Volume 5 Issue 2
February 1982
Formula One
racing analysis
Reviews:
Osborne
Alphatronic
Art on 380-Z
Rapid reading
on the Pet I
Test your ESP
*1 j-fY
A
n
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X -1 L
r
romemco System Three
If you’ve already recognised the
superiority of Cromemco products, or
even if you’re still evaluating alternative
systems, it’s worthwhile visiting
MicroCentre.
systems — single user and multi-user; and
a wide range of software, including
compilers, data base management, word
processing, and Cromemco’s integrated
business packages.
Here’s our promise. Ask to see anything in
the Cromemco catalogue, and we’ll
demonstrate it for you . Nobody else i n the
UK carries a wider range of Cromemco
demonstration systems and stock. We’ll
show you all the Cromemco computers, of
course. From System Zero to System
Three; the Z-2H Hard Disk system; high
performance colour graphics; and the
adaptable SCC single card computer.
Then we’ll show you quality Cromemco
peripherals; a choice of operating
For Q Cromemco .
At MicroCentre we pride ourselves in
taking care of all the important details that
make up a complete service . . . like
stocking the complete library of
Cromemco documentation; arranging
leasing and maintenance agreements;
supplying continuous stationery, ribbons,
floppy disks, print thimbles, etc.
So if you’re interested in Cromemco
systems don’t miss out a visit to
MicroCentre. We’re Cromemco’s top
dealers in Europe — and proud of it!
• • call the experts
MicroCentre
Tel: 031-5567354
Complete Micro Systems Ltd.,
30 Dundas Street
Edinburgh EH3 6JN
• Circle No. 101
Comart Approved
Dealers
Aberdeen
MOM Offshore
21 Bon Accord Street
Tel: 0224 22863
Belfast
O & M Systems
95 Dublin Road
Tet: 0232 49440
Birmingham
Byteshop Computertand
94/96 Hurst Street
Tel: 021 622 7149
Bristol
Senton
27 Nicholas Street
Tel: 0272 276132
Cambridge
Toltec
24 Thompson Lane
Teh 0223 312347
Cheshire
Holdene
82a Water Lane
Wilmslow
Teh 0625 529486
Dublin
Lendac Data Systems
8 Dawson Street
Tel: 0001 372052
Edinburgh
Holdene Micro Systems
48 Great King Street
Tel: 031 557 4060
Glasgow
Byteshop Computerland
61 Waterloo Street
Tel: 041 221 7409
Leeds
Holdene Micro Systems
11/12 Rampart Road
Teh 0532 459459
London
Byteshop Computerland
324 Euston Road. W1
Tel: 01 -387 0505
Digitus
9 Macklm Street. WC2
Tel: 01 -405 6761
Jarogate
67 Tutsemere Road. SE 17
Tel: 01 -670 3674
Manchester
Byteshop Computerland
Piccadilly Station Approach
Tel: 06 1 236 4737
NSC Computers
29 Hanging Ditch
Tel: 06 1832 2269
Newbury
Newbear Computing Store
40 Bartholomew Street
Tel: 0635 30505
Nottingham
Byteshop Computerland
92a Upper Parliament Street.
NG16LF
Tel: 0602 40576
Sheffield
Hallam Computer Systems
451 Eccleshall Road
Tel: 0742 663125
Southampton
Xitan Systems
23 Cumberland Place
Tel: 0703 38740
Suffolk
Eurotec Consultants
Little Waldingfield,
Sudbury
Tel: 0787 247959
Surrey
Gemlines
184 London Road. KT2 6QU
Tel: 01-546 9944
Warwicks
Business & Leisure
Microcomputers
Kenilworth
Teh 0926 512127
Watford
Lux Computer Services
108 The Parade.
WD 1 1 2AW
Tel: 0923 29513
Worthing
Ace Computing Services
1-11 Bridge Road
Tel: 0903 354 11
Comart Ltd,
SL Neots, Cambs.
Tel (0480) 215005
Telex 32514 Comart G.
Trust Comart to turn a new
ADVANTAGE
into a major benefit.
ADVANTAGE is the exciting new, packaged high
performance desk top computer with integral video
screen. It brings the proven reliability, so long
the hallmark of NORTH STAR products, into new
and broader fields of application.
Add the established Comart
technical, software, and service
support and the ADVANTAGE
becomes a major benefit to users
looking for a low cost, yet versatile,
dedicated system. NOW!
Just look at the benefits.
ADVANTAGE is economical:
A complete integrated accounting
system and word processing system
will cost around £4500 depending
on the printer and software used.
ADVANTAGE is versatile:
You have the benefit of application
software that is already available
and proven on NORTH STAR
Systems.
ADVANTAGE is new:
It’s Business Graphics can
convert data into bar charts,
pie charts, graphs, and 3D
representations instantly. And,
what you can see on the screen,
you can print.
comart
SPECIALISTS IN MICROCOMPUTERS
For the technically minded, Advantage is a
4MHz, Z80A based microcomputer with 64K
dynamic RAM, a 20K Byte display dedicated RAM,
plus 2K Boot PROM.
An auxiliary 8035 processor provides
keyboard and disk control. It has a
1 2" green screen, and integrated
twin quad capacity 5" disk drives
providing 720K Bytes of data r
storage. It has a 87 key Selectric"
style keyboard with 9 control keys,
14 key numeric/cursor control pad,
1 5 programmable function keys,
and 49 conventional character keys.
ADVANTAGE comes complete
with Business graphics, self
diagnostic software and graphics
demo software. Its G-Basic/G-DOS,
and Graphics CP/M R are supersets
of the industry standards. They
enhance ADVANTAGE’S Graphic
and Character Mode capabilities,
and provide a consistent operating
environment for development and
application programs written in any
other CP/M compatible language.
To see more of the benefits
of the ADVANTAGE ask your
Comart Dealer, or send now
for further information.
A member of the Comart
Group of Companies.
Circle No. 103
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
5
irfnn the specialists in
cot nouKr systems S100 SYSTEMS
MIDAS S100
SYSTEMS
MIDAS 1 : From £835
MIDAS 2: From £1,790
MIDAS 3: From £2,450
MIDAS 3HD: From £5,495
ITHACA-DPS 1: From £1,494
Our versatile Z80 Microcomputers are available as standard units or custom
configured to your exact specification from a comprehensive ranqe of stocked
S100 boards.
Disc storage capacity of the MIDAS 3 can be 2M Bytes, expandable to over
80M Bytes with a Winchester Hard Disc Unit in our MIDAS 3HD range.
MIDAS runs CP/M and MP/M. Other Software includes M-BASIC, C-BASIC,
FORTRAN, COBOL, CIS-COBOL, PASCAL and Word Processing.
A MIDAS 3D with 64K RAM and 2M Bytes storage on two 8" drives with two
Serial I/O Ports and CP/M only £2,965.
Printers, VDUs and other peripherals stocked to give complete package
system at keen prices.
BOARDS s * oc ^ over different S100 Boards all from quality manufacturers, such as Godbout,
SSM, Micromation, Dual, Ithaca, Vector, S.D. Systems, Morrow, Pickles & Trout, etc.
PROCESSOR
Z80 Starter Kit
SBC 100
8085/88 CPU
Z80A CPU 4MHz (4 Types)
8086
£251
£215
£190
From £157
(tba)
EPROM
2716 EPROM (2 x 16K)
£95
2768/2716/2732 Programmer
From £143
[VIDEO BOARDS
24x801/0 Drive
£240
24 x 80 Memory Mapped
£240
DISK CONTROLLERS
1
Single Density 5” or 8" From £150
Disc 1 D/D DMA £282
Double D/D + Serial I/O £336
Static RAM 16-64K 24 Bit add. From £175
Dynamic RAM 64K 8/16 Bit £683
Memory Manager £60
I/O BOARDS
2s/2p or 4s/2p or 3p/1s etc From £120
A/D & D/A 8 or 12 Bit From £220
IEE 488 interface £360
MISCELLANEOUS
Real Time Clocks (2 Types) From £120
Graphics 256 & 512x256 £280
Maths Board AMD 9511 £345
Extender Boards/Logic Probe £45
Mother Boards 8-20 Way From £32
MAINFRAMES
We are the sole UK Distributor for Integrand
Mainframes and Disc Enclosures, available
in nine models including Desk Top and Rack
Mounting, with or without provision for Disc
Drives. All units totally enclosed, painted on
all external surfaces and complete with
power supply etc.
SOFTWARE
CP/M 1 & 2, MP/M, PL/1, C-BASIC 2, M-
BASIC V5, XYBASIC, FORTRAN 80, COBOL
80, CIS-COBOL, PASCAL/Z, PASCAL M/T,
Forth, MAC, ZSID, Disassembler, Wordstar,
Datastar, Magic Wand, Wordmaster,
Supersoft etc etc.
Prices exclusive of VAT
We are pleased to discuss your requirements and will advise you as to whether your
needs can be met with one of our computers. 0
All of our systems are specials as they are configured to suit your specification, thus
ensuring that you get what you want rather than what happens to be available
Write or phone for a catalogue.
Unit 14, 29 Willow Lane, Mitcham, Surrey
Telephone. 01-640 6931/2/3
irtnn
computer systems
6
• Circle No. 104
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
What can sixteen CP/M users
have in common?
17 Z80s running at 4 Megahertz
1 Megabyte of 200 Nsec RAM
18 Serial Input/Output Ports
1 Centronics-type Parallel Port
90 Megabyte Shared Cartridge Disks
2 Megabyte Shared Floppy Disks
4 Shared (Spooled) Printers
Optional Private Printers
Running under Standard CP/M 2.2
ACCRON-Multi Processor Series-Microsystem
The ACCRON-Multi Processor Series- microsystem
is a breakthrough in low cost high performance multi-user
S100 micro computers. Based on the Service/User
Processor principle, a single ACCRON-MPS system supports
up to 16 users, where each user has its own Z80A, 64KB RAM
and an RS 232 I/O Port on a single S100 board. Each User
Processor runs under its own dedicated copy of the CP/M
operating system. All users share the common resources
such as disks, magnetic tapes and system printers. These
shared resources are controlled by the Service Processor
with its own dedicated Z80A and 64KB RAM running under
DPC/OS) a proprietary Distributed Processing Operating
System.
Zero CPU Degradation!
Unlike single-CPU timesharing multi-user systems
(e.g. MP/M, OASIS, MVT-FAMOS etc.) where system throughput
degrades as additional users are added, the ACCRON-MPS
system has no CPU degradation at all. Since each user has
its own selfcontained processor and memory you can now
have minicomputer performance at micro computer prices.
It’s Expandable
You can start with a single-user floppy disk system
and (field) upgrade it to multi-user by simply adding a Service
Processor running DPC/OS and more User Processor boards
as and when required. Large capacity hard disks, magnetic
tapes and more printers may be added at any time without
any hardware or software redundancy.
CP/M Compatible
Use of the industry standard CP/M operating system
means that a wealth of readily available, reasonably priced,
system and application software will run on your ACCRON
microsystem without any modification. Upgrade to multi-user,
where simultaneous access of shared data files is required,
is easily supported by the inclusion of simple file or record
locking routines.
User Friendly DPC/OS
The Service Processor and DPC/OS provide an easy
to understand and user friendly interface for common access
to shared resources such as disks, magnetic tapes, up to four
spooled system printers or any other peripheral that may
be attached to your system (such as a telex-tape punch).
Simple routines handle record and/or file locking and
prevent “interleaved” or “fatal embrace" file update sequences.
DPC/OS allows for both private and shared disk space.
Interprocessor message communications, scheduling and
batch-submit facilities are also provided.
Complete Range of Peripherals
A complete range of peripherals is supported; mini
floppies, 8" floppies, winchester disk drives, cartridge disk
drives, cartridge tapes, 9 track industry standard reel to reel
magnetic tapes and so forth.
From £2,400 to £35,000
ACCRON MPS-Series microsystems start at £2,400
for a single-user system with 2 double sided double density
floppies. A typical 3-user system with 20-slot bus and a 10MB
cartridge disk drive (5MB fixed/5MB cartridge costs £9,650).
Add-on User Processors cost £900 and so you can grow on.
Dealers and OEM’s, Get The Facts
Fill in this coupon now and send it to: NEWTONS Laboratories,
111-113 Wandsworth High Street, London SW18 4JB. Tel: 01-87 4 6511
(5 lines). Telex: 21768 (NEWTON G).
Name
Address
PC 2/82 LABORATORIES |
'CP/M is a trademark of Digital Research Inc. DPC/OS is a trademark of ACE Inc. ACCRON is
a trademark of NEWTONS Laboratories. _ _.
• Circle No. 105
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
7
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qoB3 jdaouoo u6isap ..OjBoi pajBqs,, sji
s; jBigndiuOQ aqi jo AjnBaq |B3J aqi mg
SuperBrain users get exceptional performance for just a fraction of what they'd
expect to pay. Standard SuperBrain features include: two double density mini-
floppies with 350K bytes of disk storage, 32K of ram memory (expandable to 64K)
M® Disk Opr
to handle even the most sophisticated p
ns, a CP/M® Disk Operating System
sophistx w _ .
with a high powered text editor, assembler, debugger and a disk formator. And, with
SuperBrain's S-100 bus adaptor, you can add all the programming power you will
ever need . . almost any type of S-100 compatible bus accessory.
SuperBrain's CP/M operating system boasts an overwhelming amount of available
software in BASIC. FORTRAN, COBOL, and APL. Whatever your application . . .
General Ledger, Accounts Receivable, Payroll, Inventory or Word Processing.
SuperBrain is tops in its class. And the SuperBrain QD boasts the same powerful
performance but also features a double-sided drive system to render more than
700K bytes of disk storage and a full 64K of RAM. All standard!
Whatever model you choose, you’ll appreciate the careful attention given to every
engineering detail. A full ACSII keyboard with numeric pad and user-programmable
function keys. A non-glare, specially focused. 12-inch CRT for sharp images
everywhere on the screen. Twin Z- 80 microprocessors to ensure efficient data
transfer to auxiliary peripheral devices. Dual universal RS-232 communications
ports for serial data transmission. And, a single board design to make servicing a
snap!
Integrated Desk Top Computer with 12 inch Bit-Mapped Graphics or Character
Display, 64Kb RAM. 4 MHz Z80A,® Two Quad Capacity Floppy Disk Drives,
Selectric® Style 87 Key Keyboard, Business Graphics Software.
The North Star ADVANTAGE TM is an interactive integrated graphics computer
supplying the single user with a balanced set of Business-Data, Word, or Scientific-
Data processing capabilities along with both character and graphics output.
ADVANTAGE is fully supported by North Star's wide range of System and
Application Software.
The ADVANTAGE contains a 4 MHz Z80A® CPU with 64Kb of 200 nsec Dynamic
RAM (with parity) for program storage, a separate 20Kb 200 nsec RAM to drive the
bit-mapped display, a 2Kb bootstrap PROM and an auxiliary Intel 8035 micro-
processor to control the keyboard and floppy disks. The display can be operated as
a 1 920 (24 lines by 80 characters) character display or as a bit-mapped display (240
x 640 pixels), where each pixel is controlled by one bit in the 20Kb display RAM. The
two integrated 5 V 4 inch floppy disks are double-sided, double-density providing
storage of 360Kb per drive for a total of 720Kb. The n-key rollover Selectric style
keyboard contains 49 standard typewriter keys. 9 symbol or control keys, a 14 key
numeric/cursor control pad and 15 user programmable function keys.
G.W. COMPUTERS LTD, 01-636 8210 01-631 4818
☆ ☆ * BUS ☆ ☆ ☆
(BUSINESS EFFICIENCY)
WIDELY USED IN U.K./FRANCE/U.S.A. AND ENGLISH SPEAKING COUNTRIES FOR ITS OVERALL FLEXIBILITY AS A COMPLETE BUSINESS PACKAGE
INCLUDES INVENTORY, DATABASE MANAGEMENT, INVOICING, MAILING ADDRESSES .STATEMENTS, f A L |S/PURCHASE LEDGER WITH I OF [^HOUT AUTO
STOCK UPDATE AND DOUBLE ENTRY JOURNALS INCLUDING NOMINAL LEDGER; PLUS A’C RECEIVABLE AND PAYABLE MAKING AUTO BANK ENTRIES.
01 = ADDRESS SECTION
02 STOCK CONTROL
03 = A/C RECEIVABLES
04 SALES LEDGER
05 - A/C PAYABLES
06 PURCHASE LEDGERS
07 BANK UPDATE
08 USER DATABASE AREA
09 INVOICE CREATION
10 = ORDER FILES
1 1 - 30/60/90 DAY AGE ANALYSIS
12 = ARITHMETIC SECTION
13 = PRINT CUSTOMER STATEMENTS
14 - PRINT SUPPLIER STATEMENTS
15 PRINT AGENT STATEMENTS
16 = PRINT TAX STATEMENTS
17 = RUN SEPARATE PROGRAMS
18 - CHANGE VOCABULARY
19 NOMINAL ANALYSIS
20 AGED DEBTOR ANALYSIS
21 DISK DIRECTORIES
22 - FILE MANAGEMENT
23 - SORTS
24 - DISK SWAP/EXIT SYSTEM
WHICH OPTION
(LEVEL 8.00@875.00)
has + been reduced w Ik! by mp + er raNi to a^inIle^kb^ retrievals a matter of nanoseconds, works
UNDER M/PM AND COMPUSTAR FOR COMMON DATA RETRIEVAL LEVEL 10.00 ***' 1 475.00
DBMS (DATABASE) HAS 01 02 •, 04 ; 06 = ; 07 ; 08- ; 17 ; 18^; 21 ; 24 = . PRICE 475.00
DATABASE FEATURES ARE- FOR ANY SIZE RECORD UP TO TWENTY FOUR FIELDS FILE ARCHITECTURES CAN BE DESIGNED WITTH COMPLETE FREEDOM
OVER THE LINGUISTIC CONVENTIONS ASSIGNED TO EACH FIELD. THE FILE THEN CAN STORE H C AN BE q^cqr N LEFT
ACCESS NUMBER (RETRIEVED IN LESS THAN ONE SECOND) OR KEY' RANDOM ACCESS ON SPECIFIED FIELD OR SEQUENTIALLY COMPARING FOR LEFT
FIELD PARTS, FIELD-INKEYS. OR PARTS OF RECORD, AND THEN CHA NGED, PRINTED, DELETED, SKIPPED.
GRAMA (WINTER) LTD/G.W. COMPUTERS LTD. ARE THE PRODUCERS OF THIS PACKAGE WHICH IS UNEQUALLED FOR ITS LEVEL OF TOTAL INTEGRATION.
LINGUISTIC FLEXIBILITY AND MAXIMISED DISK/MEMORY CONSERVATION.
AUTHOR TONY WINTER (M.D.; B.A.LIT; B.A.HON.PHIL; AND LECTURER)
G.W. COMPUTERS LTD, 01-636 8210 01-631 4818
going 1 ^ust 'decide *on^th*e s^stem^yolF i^tend^ufIchasing^ and take^’i^o^ofTt^^valije'^off^the^price^yo'u^would have^to^ay for the
SO^WAF^\ oU^CO^UD^ GET T^^SO^WARE FREE W^H THE HARDWARE IF YOU CHOOSE THE BEST SYSTEM WE SELL.
CRT AND TWjN 5-
IN COMPUSTAR UNIT
SUPERBRAIN
64K + 320 K DISK
64K + 700 K DISK
64K + 1.5 M DISK
64K + 6.3 M DISK
NSTAR & GRAPHICS
5.7 MG CORVUS DSK
10 MEG CORVUS DSK
20 MEG CORVUS DSK
CORVUS MULTIPLEX
CORVUS MIRROR
ADVANTAGE N/STAR
NORTH STAR
64 K MDL 10 VPU „
64K MDL 15 PRNT
64K MDL 20 VPU
64K MDL 30 VPU
64K MDL 40 VPU
10 MEG INTERTEC
BUS VER 8.00
BUS MANUAL
DBMS2
N STAR QD & CPM
OKI MICRO 80
CORVUS DSK
1950.00
2395.00
2995.00
4595.00
2395.00
2250.00
3250.00
4250.00
395.00
395.00
2395.00
COMPUSTAR
1695.00
1595.00
2495.00
2795.00
2995.00
3250.00
875.00
25.00
575.00
2395.00
295.00
PRINTER
PRINTER
OKI MICRO-82A
575.00
OKI MICRO-83
795.00
OKI MICRO-83A
850.00
EPSON MX80FT
475.00
EPSON MX100
575.00
TEXAS 810
1395.00
NEC 5510
1695.00
NEC 5525
1895.00
QUME 9/45
1695.00
QUME 5/55
1950.00
DRE 8830
1675.00
SYSTEM 1
64K f 750 K DISK
CRT AND GRAPHICS CP/M
IN 1 'N/STAR' UNIT
2395.00
SYSTEM 2
64K f 5.6 MEGABYTE CORVUS
MICRO-WINCHESTER & CRT
IN 1 SUPERBRAIN' UNIT
4595.00
SYSTEM 3
64K+1.5 MEG
2950.00
MBASIC 80
CIS COBOL
MAIL MERGE
DATASTAR
DBMS (DATABASE)
DBMS (EXTENDED)
MSORT & DSORT
FORTRAN-80
PASCAL UCSD
SUPER SORT
BASCOMPILER 190.00
MAGIC CALC (CPM)
BUS VER 8.00
LETTERIGHT
COBOL-80
WORD-STAR
CBASIC
MAGIC WAND
T/MAKER
BUS VER 9.00
UTILITIES
150.00
420.00
55.00
190.00
475.00
575.00
75.00
200.00
475.00
120.00
155.00
975.00
100.00
320.00
250.00
75.00
190.00
150.00
975.00
75.00
CHARGES AFTER ^ WARRANTY EXPIRATION SAME QUALITY SERVICE. (SITE MAINTENANCE ON APPLICATION)
MAIL ADDRESS: G. W. COMPUTERS LTD. 55 BEDFORD COURT MANSIONS. BEDFORD AVENUE, LONDON WC1. TELEX 892031 TWC G BOSTON OFFICE
DUE E TO LONG TERM CONTRACTUAL COMMITMENTS. WE ARE ONLY GIVING RESTRICTED DEMONSTRATIONS BY APPOINTMENT AT ONE OF OUR LONDON
qO^|jACt'tOI^W1NT^R < ON*01-636 8210 Or'o^-M1^4818 An'dIf'uN AVAILABLE THEN^LEAVE^fcALL*BACK MESSAGE (CLEARLY STATING YOUR TELEPHONE
SHi A Y N L°EKSS IS E DR 2 i!s H S^ KKS8P&--. SS BEDFORD COURT MANSIONS. BEDFORD
AVENUE, LONDON WC1.
CALL ONLY BY APPOINTMENT AT 55 BEDFORD COURT MANSIONS,
BEDFORD AVENUE, LONDON W.C.1. TELEX 892031 TWC G
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
• Circle No. 106
9
COmpUTgR PRODUCTS
.INTERNATIONAL LTD..
Retailer
and OEM
terms
available
Full
descriptive
Catalogue:
available
£1 -
deductable
from
first
purchase
_ SOFTWARE FOR CP M COMPUTERS INCLUDING .
CROMEMCO Z2D
EXCIDY SORCERER
SUPERBRAIN
VECTOR MZ
NORTH STAR HORIZON
COMART COMMUNICATOR RESEARCH MACHINES
COMART EOUCATOR GEMINI
RAIR BLACK BOX TRANSAM TUSCAN
SD SYSTEMS SHARP MX
NASCOM *B IBM FORMAT
OTHER
FORMATS
AVAILABLE
BYROM SOFTWARE 4
BSTAM — Utility to link one microcomputer
to another also using BSTAM
BSTMS— Utility to link a micro to a mini or
mainframe
COMPILER SYSTEMS
CBASIC v 2 08
CP/M USER LIBRARY
51 Volumes— Price per volume
8 disc (one volume per disc)
5 disc (one volume per 2 discs)
Index
CREATIVE COMPUTING
CS-9001 BASIC Games 1
CS-9002 BASIC Games 2
CS-9003 ADVENTURE 1.0
CS-9004 BILINGUAL Original Adventure
CS-9005 BASIC Games 3
CS-9006 BASIC Games 4
DIGITAL RESEARCH
WHATSIT (Database Management System)
KLH SYSTEMS
Spooler lor CPM systems v3.0
MPI LTD.
FORTH
PAYROLL
SALES LEDGER
PURCHASE LEDGER
NOMINAL LEDGER
INCOMPLETE RECORDS
ioltwarr
Manual
Software
Manual
■ Manual
Only
MICAH INC.
A Manual
Only
CP M for CDOS Users:
£95
£6
Program to Expand CP M system to be
compatable with Cromemco CDOS software
£65
£6
£95
£11
MICROFOCUS
CIS COBOL version 4 4
£400
£25
£65
£15
FORMS 2 vtl
£100
£10
MICROLOGY
FTNUMB (FORTRAN-80 RENUMBER
£50
£5
£4
& REFORMATTER)
£8
£2
MICROPRO INC.
WORD-MASTER 1 7A
£75
£22
TEX-WRITER 2 6
£37
£17
£14
WORDSTAR 3 0
£250
£38
£14
MAIL MERGE 3 0 (requires Wordstar)
£75
£10
£14
SPELLSTAR 10 (requires Wordstar)
£125
£10
£14
WORDSTAR TRAINING MANUAL
£18
£14
WORDSTAR CUSTOMIZATION NOTES
£50
£14
SUPER-SORT 16: Version 1
£125
£22
Version 2
£110
£22
DATASTAR 1101
£175
£25
CALCSTAR
£150
£25
£195
£20
£250
£30
£160
£27
Books/Magazines/Order Information overleaf
£95
£20
£120
£14
MICROSOFT INC.
£50
£14
£55
£14
BASIC-80 5.21
£185
£60
£14
BASIC Compiler 5.3
£205
£50
£14
FORTRAN-80 3 43
£260
£33
£6
COBOL-80 4.01
£380
£300
£27
M SORT 1.01
£75
£140
£20
EDIT-80 2.02
£65
MACRO-80 3 43
£105
ED
MULISP 2.10
£105
MUMATH 2.10
£130
£80
MICROTECH EXPORTS
REFORMATTER
£70
£6
CPM~IBM
£98
£17
CPM~DEC
£98
£17
MT MICROSYSTEMS
£72
£20
£500
£15
PASCAL MT 5 25
£150
£25
£200
£15
PASCAL MT 5 25 with SPP
£265
£50
£200
£15
Library Sources
£110
£200
£15
Speed Programming Pkge (Soltbus)
£125
£25
£1200
£20
NORTHSHARE
Multi-user system for Horizon Users 5 12
£44
£7
OSBORNE & ASSOCIATES
ACCOUNTS PAYABLE &
ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE
GENERAL LEDGER
PHOENIX SOFTWARE
PUNK— Disc to disc link loader
PASM — Macro Assembler
PEDIT— Line editor with Macros
BUG — Very powerful debug
PDEVELOP Package with all the above
PUNK — 2 Overlay Link Loader
SALES LEDGER
PURCHASE LEDGER
NOMINAL LEDGER
STOCK CONTROL
LETTERIGHT
ANALYST
(File management Reporting System)
NAD (Name and Address selection system)
QSORT
SUPERSOFT INC.
DIAGNOSTICS 1
DIAGNOSTICS 2
TERM
TDL SOFTWARE
(Technical Design Labs)
BUSINESS BASIC
ZTEL (Text Editing Lang )
LINKER
£50
£15
£50
£15
only)
£72
£15
£72
£15
£72
£15
£72
£15
£193
£33
£185
£15
/IS
andard)
£350
£20
£350
£20
£350
£20
£350
£20
£95
£11
£125
£11
I £55
£11
£55
£11
£45
£9
£55
£9
£72
£7
£80
£35
£35
TINY-C ASSOCIATES
Tiny-C language lor 8080 8085. Z80 systems £55 £39
TtecuProducfo
MICROPRO INFOSTAR
FOX & GELLER QUICKSCREEN
MICRO AP SELECTOR V
DIGITAL RESEARCH CB-80
TBA
TBA
TBA
TBA
WHAT A
TEAM !
BASF DISCS
The following formats are available Irom stock 8 SSSO
5 Soft Sectored. 5 10 Sectors. 5 16 Sectors
P»«ce Per
OuAntity
D.sc
£ • VAT
1 • 50
£2 40
51 - 100
£2 00
101-200
£1 80
201 - 500
£1.70
501 •
£1.50
Minimum order quantity 10 discs Orders
must be in multiples ot 10 Postage.
Package & Insurance 86p per 10 Discs up
to 50 Discs thereafter 17p per 10 Other
formats on request
SPECIAL PRODUCT
THE STAR QUALITY FEATURES
OF CALCSTAR
With CalcStar you will be able to manipulate data, either text or
^ numeric, on a visually orientated display. The numeric data may either
rCfit ll 1 be constant or be dependant on other data. CalcStar has facilities for
- 1 .„nC editing, formatting, storing, calculating and printing all data. This is a
true electronic worksheet, with 127 columns and 255 rows. Uses
include:-
10
Balance Statements * Cash Flow Analysis and Forecasting * Genera
Ledger * Inventory Records * Jobs Cost Estimates * Market Share
Analysis and Planning * Patient Records * Profit Projections * Profil
Statements * Profit Budgeting and Control * Salary Records * Sales
Projects and Records * Tax Estimation etc.
Are you in business?
Can you afford to be without CALCSTAR?
Have a STAR Company. Use CALCSTAR!!!
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
QUALITY PRODUCTS FROM THE HOME OF MICROCOMPUTER SOFTWARE
ROOM PC. 11 CAMBRIDGE HOUSE. CAMBRIDGE ROAD. BARKING. ESSEX IG11 8NT, ENGLAND
Telephone: 01-591 6511 Telex: 892395
Europe's largest selection of
Microcomputer Software,
Books and Magazines
for the Hobbyist, Educationalist,
Professional and Retailer.
GENERAL
Hardware orientated
Some Real Microprocessors
6 Updating Supplements tor Some Real Microprocessors
Some Real Support Devices
6 Updating Supplements lor Some Real Support Devices
Microprocessors from Chips to Systems
Microprocessor Interfacing Techniques
1C OP-AMP Cookbook
RTL Cookbook
1C Timer Cookbook
Ciarcias Circuit Cellar
8089 I O Processor Handbook
The CRT Controller Handbook
The 68000 Microprocessor Handbook
16 Bit Microprocessor Handbook
4 and 8 Bit Microprocessor Handbook
Software Listings:
Computer Programs that Work
Home & Economics Programs
Education and Scientitic Programs
Some Common BASIC Programs
Practical BASIC Programs
Protessional Programs Chess. Medbil Wdproc
£20 85
E20 85
£13 00
£20 85
£11 45
£13.10
£9 85
£4 25
£7 50
£6 00
£4 95
£5 95
£5 95
£15 95
£15 95
£395
£16 50
£23 00
£9 85
£10 25
£25 00
Business:
Accounts Payable and Accounts Receivable
General Ledger
Small Business Programs (Microsott Basic)
Other:
PIMS Personal Information Management System
Buyers Guide to Microsoftware
Program Design
Programming Techniques Simulation
Numbers In Theory and Practice
K2 FDOS
CP M Handbook
CP M Primer
CP M Users Guide
Calculating with BASIC
Dr Dobbs Journal Vol 1
Dr Dobbs Journal Vol 2
Dr Dobbs Journal Vol 3
Best of Interface Age Software
Don t (or How to Care for your Computer)
Programming the Z8000
Z8000 Assembly Language Programming
FOR THE Z80, TRS-80, ZX81. 380Z
Z80 Programming for Logic Design
Z80 Assembly Language Programming
ZB0 Instruction Handbook (Wadsworth)
Programming the Z80 (Zacs)
Z80 Software Gourmet Guide and Cookbook
32 BASIC Programs for the TRS-80 (Level It) 16K
Introduction to the T-Bug
(Guide to TRS-80 Machine Language Monitor)
30 Proqrams lor the Sinclair ZX80
Cambridge Collection tor the ZX81
CONCERNING LANGUAGE
Beginners Guide for the UCSD PASCAL Systems
A Practical Introduction to PASCAL
The PASCAL Handbook
Introduction ol PASCAL (including UCSD PASCAL)
SCELBAL-BASIC Language Interpreter (Source Code)
BASIC BASIC
Advanced BASIC
Users Guide to North Star BASIC
Microsott BASIC (a guide)
Secret Guide to Computers
Fitly BASIC Exercises
PASCAL Programs for Scientists 4 Engineers
£14 85
£14 85
£39 95
£6 50
£2 40
£4 75
£4 75
£6 00
£15 50
£12 10
£8 45
£10 10
£4 95
£15 50
£15 50
£15 50
£3 95
£TBA
£ 12.10
£14.85
£6 30
£13 50
£3 50
£11.95
£10.25
£ 11.10
£7.60
£6 95
£4 95
£9 50
£4 95
£13.95
£11.50
£10 00
£7 00
£6 50
£10 00
£7 15
£4 00
£10 25
£12 70
FOR THE 6502
(PET, APPLE. ATARI etc.)
First Book of ATARI
Best of Micro Vol 2
Programming the 6502 (Zacs)
6502 Applications
6502 Instruction Handbook
The PET Revealed
Library of PET Subroutines
32 BASIC Programs lor the PET
First Book of KIM
PET/CBM Personal Computer Guide (2nd edition)
Apple II Users Guide
PET and the IEEE (GPIB) Bus
6502 Assembly Language Programming
Some Common BASIC Proqrams (PET CBM)
PET Graphics
FOR THE 8080
8080 Programming tor Logic Design
8080 He* Code Card
8080 Octal Code Card
8080 Software Gourmet Guide and Cookbook
8080/8085 Software Desiqn
8080 Standard Monitor
8080 Standard Assembler
8080 Standard Editor
8080 Special Package Monitor Editor Assembler
BASEX A Simple Language and Compiler tor the 8080
FOR THE 6800
£TBA
£5.50
£10.75
£10 25
£3 50
£10 00
£10 00
£11 10
£7 00
£11 00
£11 50
£10 95
£1 1 85
£9 85
£TBA
£6 30
£2 30
£2 30
£7 15
£6 75
£8 95
£8 95
£8 95
£20 00
£6 00
6800 Software Gourmet Guide and Cookbook
6800 Tracer- An aid to 6800 Program Debugging
Tiny Assembler
RA 6800 ML - An M6800 Relocatable Macro Assembler
Link 68 - An M6800 Linking Loader
MONDEB An Advanced M6800 Monitor Debugger
FOR FUN
8080 Galaiy Game
SUPER WUMPUS A Game in 6800 Assembler Code A BASIC
Computer Music Book
Computer Rage (a Board Game)
Introduction to TRS-80 Graphics
Take My Computer Please (Fiction)
Introduction to Low Resolution Graphics tor PET Apple TR5-80
6502 Games
Inside BASIC Games
FOR THE NOVICE
Getting Down to Business with Your Microcomputer
Getting Involved with Your Own Computer
How to Profit from Your Personal Computer
Microcomputer Potpourri
Hobby Computers are Here
New Hobby Computers
Understanding Microcomputers and Small Computer Systems
Understanding Microcomputers and Small Computer Systems
and Audio Cassette
From the Counter to the Bottom Line
Buying a Business Computer
You Just Bought a Personal What’’
How to Make Money with Your Microcomputer
MAGAZINE BACK ISSUES
Micro 6502 Journal
Personal Computing
Intertace Age
Dr Dobbs Journal
Computer Music Journal
Recreational Computing
BYTE
Creative Computing
Calculators and Computers
Kilobaud Microcomputing
Compute — for the 6502
68 Micro
80 -Microcomputing
On Computing
S 100 Microsystems
99 ER
99 ER Subscription (6 issues)
Maqazine Storage Box (holds 12)
BYTE NIBBLE REPRINTS:
a) A TMS-9900 Monitor
b) BASIC Crois-Reterence Generator
c) ‘Tmy PASCAL in 8080 Assembly Language ( d needed to use this)
d) A Tiny* PASCAL Compiler
e) An APL Interpreter in PASCAL
f) Computer Assisted Flight Planning
g) Computerized Wine Cellar
h) The Design of an M6800 Lisp Interpreter
£7 85
£4 50
£6 30
£17 50
£6 00
£3 85
£6 95
£4 25
£6 75
£6 95
£6 30
£3 25
£6 00
£10 25
£11.50
£5 50
£5 50
£5 50
£1 95
£3 00
£3 00
£7 50
£9 25
£10 00
£9 75
£8 75
£7 00
£3 00
£3 00
£3.25
£2 15
£3 75
£2 15
£3 60
£4 25
£1 95
£4.25
£3 75
£2 50
£4.95
£1.95
£2 50
£3 00
£13 00
£2 15
£3 50
£1.25
£13 00
£13 50
£13 00
£2 35
£2 00
£13 00
MAIL
ORDER
TELE-
PHONE
CREDIT
CARD
ORDER
T rade
Enquiries
Welcome
ORDER INFORMATION
MAGAZINES Magazine bach issues thal are not currently in stock are otten difficult to obtain For unavailable back
issues there is a photocopying service at CO IS per page plus CO 25 p p plus VAT
BOOKS Most books are published in the USA and stocked in Britain by Microcomputer Products International Ltd
We aim to keep all ol these books in stock and as a result ot this, most prepaid orders are despatched by return ot post
Please add Cl 00 towards postage lor EACH book purchased It purchasing more than 3 books at any one lime, please
add CO 25 tor each extra title (over the 3)
PAYMENT All payment must be in sterling and drawn against a UK Bank Send cash cheques postal orders IMO Access or
Barclaycard No to Microcomputer Products International Ltd Room PC 1 1 Cambridge House Cambridge Road Barking I
Essex IG118NT Telephone 01-591 651 1 Telex: 892395
SOFTWARE Software Prices reflect distribution on 8 Single Density Discs
When ordering please speedy the lormat you require It not specified all software will be despatched on an 8 Single Density Disc
Please add C3 00 lor postage, packing and insurance plus VAT on EACH Software item purchased. For overseas, please add C6. 50 per
item Prices based on 2 00 to the pound Any deviation in this involves surcharge or discount, as appropriate
It required DATAPOST (overnight) service is available in Ihe U K tor an extra charge ot C8 50 per item plus VAT
Most Software on this list is available Irom slock and a 72 hour return service is therefore ottered on most prepaid orders
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
• Circle No. 107
11
Practical computing
-from Millbank
Practical Computing is not only the name
of a magazine. It is also a philosophy about which
we feel strongly at Millbank Computers.
Practical computing solutions which
meet the needs of the user is the basis on which
we have built up our range of hardware,
software and services.
We start with the Millbank System 10 -
the 'heavy duty micro computer available
exclusively from us and our appointed dealers.
With 700K, 1.6 MB and hard disc options, the
Millbank System 10 is arguably the most
reliable micro available in the UK - supported,
naturally, by twelve months full warranty.
Our range of printers covers dot matrix
and letter quality printing at virtually every
acceptable speed, specification and price point.
The CP/M disc operating system opens up
a vast range of readily available software -
including 'Financial Director' -a British
Accounting suite of stunning quality.
Service and support is an integral part of
our practical computing philosophy.
Call us today.
MILLBANK
COMPUTERS
v gi..„
Millbank Computers Limited, Millbank House, Amyand Park Road, Twickenham TW1 3HN. Tel: 01-891 4691.
12
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
DATA PROCESSING
Complete DP Systems (including CP/M,
programming language and basic
software) start from £3950.00.
Software
Financial Director, Accounting, Payroll, Stock
Control, Estate Agents, Data-base
Management, information Retrieval, Financial
Modelling plus a wide range of specialised
applications.
Printers (all prices exclude VAT):
Olivetti DM 5100- New 140 cps Dot
Matrix. Price: £900.00 (Also available,
DM5200, 200 CPS)
2 Olivetti DM80/180 cps Dot Matrix
printer with amazing letter quality
printing at 80 cps. 171" platen. Price:
£1995.00.
WORD PROCESSING
Word processing systems start from
£3900.00 complete.
Software:
Wordstar (with the unique system 10 function
key overlay), Spellstar (checks your spelling),
Mailmerge, Spellbinder, Easyword.
Printers:
3 Olivetti DY 211 - the low cost
daisywheel printer. 20 cps. Only
£900.00!
4 Olivetti DY 311 - 32 cps daisywheel. A
reliable, high quality printer.
Competitively priced: £1050.00.
5 0ume Sprint 5 Range - Superb 45 and
55 cps printers available in R0 or KSR
versions. Prices from: £1700.00.
6 Olivetti DY 811 - the ultimate
high-speed daisywheel printer. Speed
range 65-80 cps. Ideal for heavy users.
£1995.00.
SERVICE
we service all the systems and peripherals
wesupply-also products within our range
supplied by other distributors/dealers.
The Millbank System 10 carries a full
twelve- month warranty - Manufacturers'
warranty on all other products.
• Dealerships for the Millbank System 10 range are still available in some areas. Dealer enquiries for our range of Olivetti dot matrix and
daisywheel printers welcomed We also stock a range of 5. floppy hard disc drives for OEM users Call Alan Miller
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
Circle No. 108
13
CP/M SOFTWARE
from
mmm
* NEW * WORDSTAR 3 * NEW *
WORD-STAR tml Version 3.xx has now been released. New
features include: column move capabilities, horizontal scrolling
— up to 240 columns and even clearer menus. Also released is
MicroPro’s own spelling checker — SPELLSTAR.
WORD-STAR 3. xx £255/£30
MAILMERGE 3.xx (optional) £ 60/£10
SPELLSTAR (optional) £125
IN ADDITION METROTECH SUPPLIES A TRUE ENGLISH
DICTIONARY, REPLACING US WORDS WITH ENGLISH
NEW * RECORDS MANAGEMENT * NEW
Ideal for office records including personnel, stock, clients and
accounts. Features include:
* Comprehensive calculation
Record selection on updates and reports
* Full sorting facilities
WORDSTAR INTERFACE — for selective mailing
COMPSOFT DMS £400/£25
NEW * MICROPLAN * NEW
If you have any problem that you would normally solve with
pen, paper and a calculator, then MicroPlan will help you.
MicroPlan will perform most types of calculations working in
rows and columns, as well as advanced financial analysis.
MicroPlan £295/£20
LANGUAGES/UTILITIES
CBASIC II
COMMERCIAL DISK EXTENDED BASIC
SB ASI C
COMPILER STRUCTURED BASIC
SUPERSORT I
WORD-MASTER SUPERIOR TEXT EDITOR
MET / TWAM INDEX SEQUENTIAL FILE
ACCESS IN CBASIC II
MICROSOFT BASIC 80 INTERPRETER
MICROSOFT BASIC COMPILER
MICROSOFT FORTRAN 80
MICROSOFT COBOL 80
£75/ £20
£175/ £30
£125/ £20
£75/ £20
£55/ £15
£155/ £25
£195/ £25
£215/ £25
£315/ £25
MICRO DATA BASE SYSTEMS
MDBS is a database system offering full network
CODASYL-oriented data structures, variable length
records, read/write protection, one-to-one, one-to-
many and many-to-many set relationships. Add on
features are: an interactive report-writer and query
system, a dynamic restructuring system and a recovery
transaction logging system.
MDBS prices start from £600/£30
Primer manual £5
COMMUNICATIONS
BISYNC-80/3780 and BISYNC-80/3270 are full
function IBM 2780/3780 and 3270 emulators for
microcomputers.
BISYNC-80/3780 gives you a
terminal for the price of a micro!
Remote Job Entry
BISYNC-80/3270 combines the local processing power
of a micro with a sophisticated screen capability. Make
your dumb terminal smart!
MET/TTY will connect your micro to a timesharing
service in simple teletype emulation.
P.O.A.
P.O.A.
£95/£15
BISYNC-80/3780
BISYNC-80/3270
MET/TTY
DATA MANAGEMENT
SELECTOR III-C2
An easy to use Information Management System;
requires CBASIC II
SELECTOR IV
An advanced Information Management
requires CBASIC II
DATASTAR
Powerful data entry, retrieval and update
system
£185/£30
System;
£275/£35
£195/£30
FINANCIAL REPORTING
REPORT WRITER
You input the values - Report Writer will perform your
calculations and produce a report with your headings,
totals and summaries ran/ nc
G LECTOR tyb/ tlb
General ledger option to Selector III; Requires Selector
III and CBASIC II £185/ £30
All software is Ex-stock except MDBS and available on stan-
dard 8" disks or 5" disks for Vector MZ, Superbrain and
Dynabyte.
Postage and Packing £2 per order.
* Add 15% VAT.
State which disk type and size.
All orders prepaid.
Telephone orders welcome for Access, Barclaycard,
American Express or Diners Club.
CALL 0895 58111 Ext. 247 or 269
or write to:
METROTECH MAIL ORDER
WATERLOO ROAD UXBRIDGE
MIDDLESEX UB8 2YW
enclosing cheque, PO's payable to METROTECH
tml WORD-STAR is a trademark of Micropro.
14
Prices are shown as Software with manual/Manual only.
Prices correct at time of going to press
METROTECH are sole U.K. distributors of DYNABYTE microcomputer systems.
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 7982
, CP/M HARDWARE
liu FR0M
METROTECH
TERMINALS
□rum.
mrmn CAR S DGE
PRINTERS
r
MATRIX. LINE. OR LETTER QUALITY
UP TO 400K MEM0R1
COMMUNICATIONS
CP/M-MP/M
COMPATIBLE
OPERATING
SYSTEM
CARTRIDGE WINCHESTER
TAPE FIXED DISK
1MB
2MB
ON-LINE STORAGE 5W DISKETTE 8" DISKETTE
When you install a Dynabyte system,
you're not just buying the system you
need today, you’re planning for the future.
Upgradeable As your business expands and your
needs change and grow, you simply add processingpower and storage capacity —
unit by unit, in a measured building block fashion. The Dynabyte systems provide
tho total solution for both your data processing and word processing needs.
DynaBUTE
The Dynabyte 5000 Family allows a very
wide range of disk storage and can be
configured to give multi-terminal and
Modularly Expandable mulli-tasking systems, net working and
multiple processors. The net result is a system that serves your present needs
exactly and is modularly expandable to meet your future demands.
Choose from nine different members of
the Dynabyte Family, and get the amount
of storage you require — ranging from
Choice of Storage 630 thousand bytes to 99 million bytes.
Capacity, versatility, and compatibility can all be part of the selection criteria. You
don't have to compromise with a Dynabyte.
DBIiaBBTE
The basic Dynabyte features 64K RAM. a 4 MHZ Z80A, and one parallel and two
serial ports. All systems run CP/M, MP/M and CP/NET.
A full range of software is available including word processing communications,
database, integrated business systems, all standard languages and viewdata.
Attach up to eight terminals to your micro-
computer. Run several jobs from one ter-
minal simultaneously (up to eight at one
Multi-tasking time). Connect up to 16 printers. Share
the processor, share the printers. Add one terminal, one printer, or a block of
memory. It is all possible when you install a Dynabyte's Level 4 operating system, a
superset of MP/M. on your Dynabyte's equipment.
The flexibility built into every Dynabyte
computer assures you a smooth upgrade
path, and it vastly extends the useful life
Flexible of your equipment. Upgradeability can
mean a lot to you — wasted time and disruption are eliminated with a smooth
transition to a large Dynabyte system.
Please send more information on the Dynabyte 5000 series
Name
Title ...
Address
Telephone
SEND TO: METROTECH LTD., MARKETING DEPT., WATERLOO ROAD, UXBRIDGE, MIDDLESEX UB8
2YW. TEL: 0895 581 1 1 Exts 265, 287, 247 or 269.
METROTECH IS A MEMBER OF THE GRAND METROPOLITAN GROUP.
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
Circle No. 109
15
PROFESSIONAL
VIDEO
MONITORS
Telefusion have tine full
range of video monitors
manufactured by Electrohome.
These monitors are extremely
rugged, dependable and
available in a variety of screen
sizes, and phosphor options,
to suit the Communications, Digital,
Medical and Industrial Monitoring
industries.
As the U.K. authorised distributor
and service repair centre. Telefusion can
offer competitive prices, expert applications advice
and a comprehensive after sales service from our factory, or from
the regional depots throughout the country.
TELEFUSION
CONTRACTS DIVISION
w/ Unit 10/11 Barrs Fold Close Wingates Industrial Park
Write or phone for further details Westhoughton Bolton BL5 3XH Telephone: 0204 66393
• Circle No. 110
IICRO-8^ UK Subscription Dept.
24 Woodhill Park Pembury Tunbridge Wells Kent TN2 4NW
ARE PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE that MICRO-80 is now available in the UK in
CASSETTE EDITION.
Each month we publish at least six programs for the TRS-80 or VIDEO GENIE
and . . .
SUBSCRIBERS may now have the benefit of receiving their programs on cassette
for IMMEDIATE LOADING.
WE ARE ALSO CONTINUING our special offer of a FREE cassette program to all
new subscribers who complete the coupon below - even if you order a
subscription to the magazine only.
Please enrol me for an annual subscription and send me my FREE cassette program,
enclose £16.00 □ (magazine only) or £43.60 i i (magazine and cassette edition)
(enclose your cheque/P.O. made payable to MICRO-80 and send to the above
address)
Software offer, and cassette edition prices applies to U.K. residents only Overseas
subscription rates on application.
Name
BLOCK CAPITALS PLEASE
Address
PC 2/82
16
• Circle No. Ill
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
SYSTEM 4000
EPROM EMULATOR/PROGRAMMERS
SOFTY
SYSTEMS
P4000 PRODUCTION EPROM
PROGRAMMER
This unit provides 'simple, reliable'
programming of up to 8 EPROMs. It
has been designed for ease of
operator use — a single 'program'
key starts the blank check — pro-
gram — verify sequence. Indepen-
dent blank check and verify controls
are provided along with mode, pass/
fail indicators for each copy socket
and a sounder to signal a correct key
command and the end of a program-
ming run. Any of the 2704/2708/
2716 (3 rail) and 2508 / 2758 / 2516
/ 2716 / 2532 / 2732 EPROMs may
be selected without hardware or per-
sonality card changes.
2 year warranty. Price E545 + VAT:
+ £12.00 DELIVERY
VM10 VIDEO MONITOR
This compact, lightweight Video
Monitor gives a clean crisp picture
on its 10" screen. Suitable for use
with the EP4000, SOFTY and other
systems. 12 month warranty. Price
£88 + VAT, carriage paid.
MODEL 14 EPROM
ERASERS
MODEL UV140 EPROM
ERASER
Similar to model UV141 but with out
timer. Low price at £61.50 + VAT,
postage paid.
EP4000 EPROM EMULATOR/
PROGRAMMER
The microprocessor based EP4000
has been designed as a flexible, low
cost, high quality unit for emulating
and programming all the popular
NMOS EPROMs without the need
for personality cards, modules or
hardware changes. Its software
intensive design permits selection of
the 2704 / 2708 / 2716 triple rail
EPROMs and the 2508 / 2758 /
2516 / 2716 / 2532 / 2732 single rail
EPROMs for both the programming
and emulating modes.
The video output (T.V. or monitor) for
memory map display in addition to
the built-in Hex LED display, for
stand alone use, is unique in this
type of system. This, with the double
function 28 key keypad, powerful
editing features, powered down pro-
gramming socket, buffered tri-state
simulator cable and 4k x 8 data RAM
gives you the most comprehensive,
flexible and compact systems avail-
able today.
2 year warranty. Price £545 + VAT :
+ £12 DELIVERY
MODEL UV141 EPROM
ERASER
• 14 EPROM capacity
• Fast erase time ^
• Built-in 5-50 minute timer
• Safety interlocked to prevent eye
and skin damage
• Convenient slide-tray loading of
devices
• Available Ex-Stock at £78 + VAT
Postage Paid
SOFTY 2
LOW COST 2716
EMULATOR/PROGRAMMER
• Direct output to T.V. • High speed
cassette interface • On card
EPROM Programmer • Multifunc-
tion touch keypad • 2K Monitor in
2716 • 2K RAM •• 128 byte
scratchpad RAM • 2K EPROM
Emulation • Can program 2732/
2532 in two halves • Editing
facilities including — Data entry/
deletion, Block shift, Block store,
Match byte, Displacement calcula-
tion • Supplied with ZIF socket,
Simulator cable, comprehensive
manual, Antistatic lined EPROM tray
and PSU. SOFTY 2 £169 + VAT
(includes p&p)
SOFTY 1
LOW COST 2704/2708
EMULATOR/PROGRAMMER
• Direct output to T.V. • High speed
cassette interface — On card
EPROM Programmer • Multifunc-
tion keypad • IK Monitor in 2708
• IK RAM • 128 byte scratchpad
RAM • IK EPROM Emulation
• Comprehensive editing facilities
• Supplied with ZIF socket, Simula-
tor cable and comprehensive
manual.
SOFTY 1 (Built and tested)
£120 + VAT
SOFTY 1 Power Supply £20 + VAT
SOFTY 1
CONVERSION CARD
Enables SOFTY to program the
single rail EPROMs, 2508 / 2758 /
2516 / 2532. Selection of device
type and 1 K block are by pcb slide
switches. ZIF Programming socket.
Supplied built and tested. £40 +
VAT.
EX-STOCK EPROMS
1-24 25-99 100 up
2732 6:50 5:75 4:95
2716 2:80 2:60 2:40
2708 2:80 2:60 2:40
ADD VAT AT 15% - POSTAGE PAID
WRITE OR TELEPHONE FOR DETAILS
ON ANY OF OUR PRODUCTS
DISTRIBUTORS REQUIRED — EXPORT ENQUIRIES WELCOME
GP INDUSTRIAL ELECTRONICS LTD,
UNIT E, HUXLEY CLOSE, NEWNHAM INDUSTRIAL ESTATE,
PLYMOUTH, DEVON PL7 4JN
TELEPHONE: PLYMOUTH (0752) 332961 (Sales) / 332962 (Technical Service).
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
Circle No. 112
17
The
MICROLINK
Interface for
your Commodore or
Hewlett Packard
Computer.
The MiCROLINK interface has been designed for use in laboratory
environments where acquisition and processing of data from a variety
of sources is required. MICROLINK is a modular system consisting of a
mainframe incorporating the IEEE-488 interface and a power supply,
and a cabinet holding upto 17 modules-this means that the interface
can be configured for your precise requirements.
Modules for signal acquisition:
AN- 1, AN- ID single-ended and differential analogue voltage
conditioning modules.
ucrP’J^" 1 0D 8 and 1 0 blt analo ^ ue to digital conveners.
HSC. HSM high speed clock and multiplexer where rapid
sampling is required
(up to 10 kbytes/sec).
Modules for experimental control:
RR-8, HDR-4 reed and heavy duty relay outputs.
CC-8 8 contact closure or logic level inputs.
UDC up/down counter (for counting logic pulses).
Modules for data collection from instruments:
BCD-8 8 decade BCD input.
Modules for signal generation or displays:
8D-A 8 bit digital to analogue convener.
on^vv* ^ channels - trigger for oscilloscope displays.
oD-XY 2 channels - pen lift relay for analogue XY plotter.
Modules for specialist applications:
TIM millisecond timing.
HR hean rate monitoring.
NHI neural pulse histogram data collection.
V
• Circle No. 115
A Biodata
6 Lower Ormond St.
Manchester Ml 5QF. U.K.
Telephone:
061-236 1283
Write or telephone with
details of your application
and we will be pleased
to quote for the
appropriate
configuration.
C j BUG FREE ‘VERBATIM DATALIFE ’
| VDB 8024 GRAPHICS UPGRADE
' I CRASHED A DISK?*!!
Resurrect erased files, crashed disks etc:-
DISKEDIT I: Access any sector of CP/M pre V2.0
soft sector 8" disk as physical or logical sector
alter any byte in sector. Display uses cursor
addressing. Price C35
DISK REVIVER: No knowledge of disk structure
required for this CP/M V2.0 or pre V2.0 Diskedit.
(Coming soon - send for info) Price £TBA
DISK ORGANISER: Regular use minimises head
wear and speeds up disk accesses runs on CP/M
V2.0 or Pre V2.0. A must for hard disks.
^ Price £S0j
ADD: 1 60 x 72 POINT GRAPHICS to your VDB8024
On board software draws lines, points, shades etc
Normal operation unaffected Minimal mods
required Manual includes driver program listing ■
Manual plus 2 x 271 6 EPROMS £65
Your board fully modded & tested
(Allow 4 days before return) £77
VDB 8024 with graphics B&T £poa
*VDB 8024 is manuf’d by SO Systems. Calif
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) Business systeitis ltd.
48 HEDLEY STREET,
MAIDSTONE, KENT ME14 5AD
TEL. MAIDSTONE 679 595
PLEASE ADD 15% VAT AND QUOTE
YOUR MACHINE TYPE WHEN ORDERING
Circle No. 114
Ok
COMMODORE PETS
8032 Computer
8050 Floppy Disk
8024 Matrix Printer
8026 Daisy Printer Keyboard * Phone for latest prices
8027 Daisy Printer Read Only
4032 Computer
4040 Floppy Disk
4022 Matrix Printer ** VIC’S NOW IN ‘
*8096 COMPUTER AND SIUC0N OFFICE NOW IN *
Secondhand equipment bought and sold. Call now.
Other printers we supply are: Qume, Ricoh, Epson, Cen-
tronics.
We also supply software: Visicalc, Wordcraft, Incomplete
Records, Payroll, Stock Control, Invoicing, Sales & Pur-
chase, Time Recording, Ozz.
All accessories are available from us and our other ser-
vices include installation and training and maintenance
contracts.
Please phone for a quotation of our typing, word-proces-
sing and personalised mail shot services.
DAVINCI COMPUTER SHOP
65 High Street,
Edgware, Middx
Mon-Fri 9.00-5.30.
Sat 9.30-5.00
or send for details.
Tel: 01-952 0526
• Circle No. 113
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
18
• Circle No. 116
19
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
SUCCESS BREEDS SUCCESS!
As authorised dealer and service centre for Apple computers we have acquired extensive experience
of users' needs and the most cost effective means of satisfying them from the considerable resources
of this popular and reliable machine. Over 1,000 of our financial accounting packages have been
installed. In the process we have have detected areas of special need and opportunities for enhancing
these resources. Our own manufactured hardware and system software have been produced to meet
these requirements. As a result we have compatible products for all configurations of Apple II and
ITT 2020 installations - and the new Apple III !
Apple III now on demonstration - systems from
Pro-File 5 MB mass storage for Apple III
Computech mass storage for Apple II and Apple III, up to 12 MB, from
£1,645
£2,256
£1,950
COMPUTECH for ^Cippkz
Authorised dealer, service centre and
system consultancy
COMPUTECH SOFTWARE AND HARDWARE INCLUDES:
Payroll for 350 employees, 100 departments, all pay periods, printed payslips, approved year end
documents, very quick and easy to use, £375. Sales, Purchases and General Ledgers £295 each,
detailed statements. Job Costing and Group Consolidation are amongst many and various applications
of the General Ledger package, which supports values to totals of one thousand million accurate to a
penny! Our Utilities Disk available like other packages in 13 sector or 16 sector format, is widely used for
reliable, error checking, copying, including single drive, and the renowned DPATCH program beloved of
programmers for £20. We have developed a Terminal Utilities package which enables Apple to Apple
and Apple to mainframe communications with local processing and storage as well as Apple to host
communications from the amazingly low price of £130. Our Graphics Utilities program for use with the
Microline and Epson families of printers enable the plain paper production on low cost printers of high
resolution screen pictures, graphs etc. - free with Microlines or £30 separately. Keyboard Driver enables
the use of our Lower Case adaptor with BASIC programs and Applewriter Patches supplied FREE
with our character generator package (total cost £50) is separately available on disk with documents for
£10. At the same price CAI (convert Apple pictures for ITT) makes binary high resolution picture files
display properly on the ITT 2020. We sell the famous Visicalc for £111 and have delivered systems using
it to do amazing things like production control, shipping accounts and stocks and shares valuations! The
versatile Applewriter word-processing package at only £39, especially employed with our Lower Case
Character Generator is widely used by people who cannot type to produce word-perfect copy! Experience
with Apple systems has led to the design and manufacture of compatible products with enhanced features
at very favourable prices to satisfy users' needs. These include the Diplomat Serial Interface which has
handshaking capability and switchable options (£80), the Diplomat Parallel Interface which enables the
direct use of text and graphics with the Microline and Epson printers and is a complete plug in and g o
item with gold-plated edge-connector at £80 and has optional direct connection for Centronics 730/737
printers. Our new Diplomat Communications Card at £95 is a sophisticated peripheral especially suitable
for Apple to mainframe communications at high speeds in full duplex mode with switch selectable bit
rates and other options. The Lower Case adaptor is available for Apples (revision 7 and earlier) as well as
ITT 2020, complete with diskette software for £50. It offers true descenders on screen and the £ sign. We
also have an Optional Character Generator for the ever popular Microline M80 at £15 This provides
£ sign and improved digits and lower case characters with USASCII special symbols. Our price for the
Microline M80, with graphics, 40, 80 and 132 characters per line, friction, sprocket and teleprinter feed,
is only £295, amazing for this small, quiet reliable 'look alike' printer. Tractor option is £40 and Serial
Adaptor £80 The Microline M82, bidirectional printer with both parallel and serial input is only £345, it
can have an optional 2K buffer, while the Microline M83 full width adjustable tractor 120 cps printer with
similar specification is only £595. Then for all computer users there is the unique Micromux which from
£800 provides up to 16 ports for simultaneous independent serial asynchronous communications! Telephone
for data sheets or to arrange a demonstration or for the address of our nearest dealer. Please hurry - the
demand for our products has been such that some have been temporarily out of stock. We offer the
effective low cost solutions you need Prices exclude V.A.T., carriage and packing.
COMPUTECH SYSTEMS
IBB. Finchley Road, London NW3 6HP. Tel: 01-T94 0202
AGF NTS THROUGHOUT THF UK AND OVF RSE.AS
SHARP 48K MZ80K
WITH BASIC & PASCAL
DEALA
DEAL B
DEALC
DEAL D
DEALE
DEALF
DEAL G
DEAL H
DEAL J
DEAL K
DEALL
DEAL M
DEAL N
DEAL P
ROCK BOTTOM PRICES
FROM SHARP’S BIG DEALER
SHARP MZ-80K with full 48K memory, BASIC
AND PASCAL
48K M2-80K, BASIC. PASCAL, AND FORTH
+ 1 0 programs
48K MZ-80K, BASIC, PASCAL. FORTH. 10
programs. AND FORTRAN
everything in DEAL C AND MACHINE CODE
48K SHARP. BASIC. PASCAL. FORTH. FOR-TRAN,
MACHINE CODE.
12 programs and the KNIGHT COMMANDER
everything included in DEAL E plus our famous
library of
100 PROGRAMS (see separate list)
MZ-80P3 printer complete with interface card
MZ-8010 interface box (takes up to five cards)
MZ-80FD dual disc floppy drive, interface card,
all cables £575
MZ-80P3 printer. PASCAL. FORTH, FORTRAN
and KNIGHT COMMANDER £389
EVERYTHING IN DEAL K. INTERFACE BOX
+ 100 programs £499
EVERYTHING IN DEAL J. plus our new
DISC COMMANDER £599
MZ-80FD dual floppy. DISC COMMANDER.
FORTH. FORTRAN. + PASCAL £625
48K SHARP MZ-80K. PRINTER. DUAL FLOPPY.
INTERFACE BOX all connecting cables and
manuals £1345
£379
£395
£410
£425
£339
£87
Dear Microfans,
We don’t just sell computers we use them ourselves. We use the Sharp
every day in our business to check our stock, keep the sales and purchase
ledgers, generate our mailing labels, and even to assist us in servicing TV
sets. We also use it for our amateur radio and music hobbies. The Sharp
keeps our station log, transmits test cards, sends morse and teletype,
tracks satellites etc. Our articles in Electronics and Music Maker maga-
zine detail Sharp micromusic.
Everyone who buys a micro from Knights gets free delivery, 12 months
guarantee and free membership of the International Sharp User Group.
Membership costs £3 if you bought your Sharp elsewhere. The group now
has 1 .400 members in 37 countries thus ensuring that our customers are
kept up to date with all the Sharp developments on a Worldwide basis. The
latest issue details my visit to Sharp in Japan, the new languages, the
compiler, double precision Basic for the B and K and masses of helpful
information about Sharp which is unavailable elsewhere.
We have now produced a Disc version of our KNIGHT COMMANDER
which adds AUTO LINE NUMBER, BLOCK DELETE, DUMP
RENUMBER. REPEAT ON ALL KEYS, TRACE, SINGLE STEP. USER
DEFINED KEYS, and a NUMERIC PAD to the standard disc basic without
taking any extra memory. It certainly surprised and delighted them at
Sharp and is now on sale in Japan.
Although we are the largest Sharp micro dealer outside Japan we do
give personal service — ring Alec or Graham Knight at any time if you
have a query — we will do our very best to help you. Ring, write or Telex for
your copies of our latest Newsletter, software lists and hardware offers
Happy computing, 10-10, 73. 88,
Graham Knight (GM8FFX on ham radio — Sharp one on CB)
P.S. Our new 4MHz board for the MZ-80K doubles the processing speed,
requires no soldering and really makes your programs zip along — details
in our newsletter.
P.P.S. We now have 80 programs for the MZ-80B and offer unbeatable
package deals.
SHARP PROGRAMS FOR THE
MZ-80K, B and PC 3201
DEAL F PROGRAMS INCLUDE: 10 PIN BOWLING, POKER, SKI
SPACEFIGHTER. OTHELLO. SNAKE, 3D MAZE. STAMP OUT MUSIC
BOX, B52 ATTACK, OWARI. CUSTOMER FILE. COSMIC INVASION
STARTREK. KLINGON ATTACK. DIRECTED NUMBERS. BLACK BOX.’
EXPLODING ATOMS. TEACH TABLES. MULTIPLICATION MEMORY
DUMPER. DISASSEMBLER. BYTE SEARCHER. MAJOR SCALES
MORSE TUTOR. BACKGAMMON, CRIBBAGE, WIZARDS CASTLe'
DIVISOR? ADVISER. MULTI7GRID, CO?ORDINWARS, ARITHMETIC
KAMIKAZE PILOT. KEYBOARD MORSE, LASER ATTACK. PONTOON
STATISTICS. GOLF. CURVE FITTING, LASER DEFENCE. TRANSMIT
RTTY. COMPUTER PIANO. COMPUTER COMPOSER, BIO-RHYTHM
ANNUAL RECEIPTS. STANDARD LETTERS, etc.
note these are only supplied with deal F.
Send for our latest software list which details hundreds of Sharp
programs covering games, business, education, hobby etc — everything
from our new version of Space Invaders to a talking memory dumper
which needs no extra speech boards!!
WE GUARANTEE TO
BEAT ADVERTISED PRICES
ON THE SPOT!
NEW MZ-80K LANGUAGE TAPES
KNIGHTS WEE PASCAL commands include: insert/delete line, find/
insert string, move, replace string. VAR, PROC. FUNC, ARRAY. IF . .
THEN ELSE, PUT. INP, OUT, OR, XOR. AND NOT + - • /
REMAINDER. RND, INCREMENT/DECREMENT VARIABLES Sup-
with four programs — ideal for PASCAL beginners. £20
KNIGHTS FORTH functions include: OR AND XOR Stack
operators: STK, CLR, DUP. DDUP. OVER. SWAP. ROT. DROP MV.
Graphics: SET, RESG. LINE. CORDV. Supplied with very fast demo
programs rotating cubes, drawing circles, etc and a FORTH DECOM-
PILER (similar to a disassembler but FORTH is compiled. £25
KNIGHTS FORTRAN takes 12K and is supplied with a 32K source
program 'Monaco Grand Prix" which you can list and learn how to get
rapid movement, fast key response and sound all at the same time —
,ncludes; M EM. GET. IOC. LOW. MOD. IRND. IABS
ISIGN. ABS, SORT. SIN. ALOG. ATAN. IOR. COS TAN EXP FLOAT
iand.xor. .fix. edit, compile, add, inser^ dim if. do call;
PAUSE, etc. Compiled programs can be saved as machine code and will
,rom moni,or or b © transferred as OBJ files onto disc. £30
KNIGHTS MACHINE CODE for experts only. We have written this so that
it can be loaded with Basic and there are no restrictions on the memory
areas which can be dumped and modified. Includes FIND TRANSFER
HEX/DECIMAL. CHARACTER DUMP/MODIFY. REGISTER DISPLAY/
MODIFY, EXECUTE ADDRESS etc. £25
MA L r£Sic R ^n? VE — KNIQ HTS PASCAL, FORTH. FORTRAN and
MACHINE: CODE C85
SHARP PASCAL takes 16K, very comprehensive package which sup-
Krwrc ? as ® s,atements etc. supplied with either
KNIGHTS WEE PASCAL wh^ch we recommend if you are a beginner or
with our NUMERICAL INTEGRATION PACKAGE which comes with 20
pages of notes detailing the Simpson’s Rule. Gauss Legendre and Gauss
metbods us ed to make up this scientific program. £45
F0R M2 * 80B with NUMERICAL INTEGRATION
PACKAGE which makes full use of the hi-res graphics for plotting curves.
KNIGHTS EASY ASSEMBLER written especially for the MZ-SOB^as
Sharp themselves do not have a tape based assembler. £25
6 aoS P FD0S ,or K and B allows writing of machine code or compiled
basic programs to disc. Details in our latest newsletter
ALL PRICES EXCLUDE V.A.T.
108 Rosemount Place, Aberdeen AB2 4YW
Telephone: 0224 630526
Telex: 739169 “KNIGHTS TV”
Knights TU &
20
• Circle No. 117
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
45 linMfflUNALS
lOWPGUSIDMnS?
C|WP is a long established service company
based in Rochester Row, London SW1.
ClWP Computers is an Apple authorised
level 1 service centre.
C|WP now offers
Practical Computing
readers the chance to
buy at its special prices.
I ^pple/l^isicalc offer 1
I Apple 48K Europlus
£599.00 1
1 Disc drive with controller £310.00 I
1 12" green monitor
£130.00
1 Silentype printer
£160.00 I
I Visicalc3.3
£100.00 1
1 VA T and installation extra
£1299.00 I
|C/WP
C/WP Computers 1
01-828 3127
108 Rochester Row 1
London SW1P ijp 1
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
Circle No. 118
21
HEHRyS
COMPUTER KIT
DIVISION
TANGERINE systems”
LONDON & HOME COUNTIES STOCKISTS^^f
404 EDGWARE RD. LONDON, W21ED TEL: 01-402 6822
TANGERINE • TANGERINE • TANGERINE • TANGERINE • TANGERINE
RETAIL SALES
& DEMONSTRATIONS
MICROTAN 65
Microtan 65 is the most advanced,
powerful, expandable micro
computer available • it
also happens to be the
most cost effective!
MICROTAN 65 CONTENTS'
High quality, plated thru hole printed circuit board, solder resist and silk
screened component identification 6502 microprocessor IK monitor
TANBUG Now with V Bug IK RAM for user programme, stack and
I display memory VDU alphanumeric display of 16 rows by 32 characters
MICROTAN 65 system file binder 136 page, bound, users hardware
I software manual with constructional details and sample programmes
Logic and discrete components to fully expand MICROTAN 65
The MICROTAN 65 kit has won widespread acclaim for its superb
presentation We pay attention to detail 1
| KIT FORM £69.00 + HO 35 VAT, total £79 35
MICROTAN 65 assembled and tested.
Specification as above, but assembled and fully bench tested by ourselves
£79.00 + f11 85 VAT. total £90 85
I TANBUG V2.3 KIT
| (Separately) £21.85 incl.
MICROTAN 65 OPTIONS
LOWER CASE PACK MINI MOTHER BOARO
Two integrated circuits which connect used to connect Microtan to Tane*
into locations on MICROTAN p. ,rin OO wat
allowing 128 displayable characters 8l, " t,D U0 ' VAI
£9.48 + fl 42. total no 90
GRAPHICS PACK
Five integrated circuits which connect into locations on MICROTAN
allowing the display of chunky graphics |64 x 64 pixels) What ae
chunky graphics’ Well, imagine a piece of graph paper with 64 squares
vertically and 64 squares horizontally, a total of 4096 Each square can
he made black on white
£6.52 + V A T 98p. total f 7 50
20 WAY KEYPAD
Inexpensive means of getting up and running Uses Schoeller' key
switches, and connects to MICROTAN through a 1 6 pm 0 I L plug on
ribbon cable Black anodised escutcheon, with TANGERINE legends,
finishes off what must be the best value for money keypad available
Available assembled and tested
£10.00 + VAT fl 50. total fl 150
‘Space Invaders game (for use with keypad only)
f 15 22 + V A T f2 28 total f 1 7 50
POWER SUPPLIES
MPS I Input 1 20 or 240V AC Output 5 Volts at 3 Amps Regulated
MPS I will power both MICROTAN and TANEX fully expanded Built on
the same size printed circuit board as MICROTAN etc Available as a
fully built and tested unit
£23.00 VAT f3 45. total f26 45
X MPSZ »5V 6A. *12V, 5 and 12V switch mode system PSU
£69.13 + v at
MINI-SYSTEM RACK
We have produced a mini system rack which accepts MICROTAN 65.
TANEX and our mini mother board It has an integral power supply, just
plug it into the mains and away you go' Finished in TANGERINE/BLACK
it gives your system the professional finish Front panel access for I/O
cables AVAILABLE AS AN ASSEMBLED UNIT
£56.35 incl.
FULL SYSTEM RACK
For the man that has everything 1 1 9 inch wide
system rack which accepts MICROTAN 65. TANEX. TANRAM. SEVEN
FURTHER EXPANSION BOARDS. TANOOS and THE SYSTEM POWER
SUPPLY Available in many formats, e g Individual front panels, full
width hinged front panel, back panel with or without connectors
£49.00 + VAT f 7 35. total f56 35
MICRON
COMPUTER
FULLY
BUILT,
TESTED,
and housed
SYSTEM RACK MICRON £550.00 Incl. ********
me VAT P&P
6502 based microcomputer VDU alpha numeric display Powerful
monitor TANBIJG 8K RAM 32 parallel I/O lines 2 TTl serial I/O lines
Four 16 Oil counter timers Cassette interlace Oala bus hollering
Memory mapping contol 71 key ASCII Keyboard, including numeric
keypad Includes power supply Also includes the Inst *1 OK MICRO
SOFT BASIC * available in the U K All the usual BASIC commands
Full manuals Microtan,'
Tanex, Basic, X Bug.
All £5.00 each.
TANRAM
AVAILABLE NOW TANRAM 40K Bytes on
one board' Single board ol bulk memory
offering 7K Static RAM (21 14). and 32K
Dynamic RAM (4116) Onboard refresh is
totally transparent to CPU operation and is
unaffected by normal DMA s TANRAM fully
expands the available address space of the
6502 microprocessor MICROTAN. TANEX
and TANRAM together provide 16K RAM.
48K RAM and IK I/O that's a lot of memory
and a lot of I/O' Built and tested TANRAM ASSEMBLED
40K RAM CARD with 16K OYNAMIC RAM £76 WAT
CONTENTS High quality plated thru hole printed circuit hoard, solder
resist and silk screened component identification Full complement of
1C sockets for maximum expansion 64 way 0 I N edge connector
IK RAM (21 14) Data bus buffering TANRAM users manual
EXTRA RAM
IK STATIC (21 14) £2 95 each I6K DYNAMIC (41 16) £1 50 each
MEMORIES EXPAND YOUR SYSTEM WITH OUR TANGERINE
Discounts 10% for 4. 15% for 8 20% lor 16 APPROVED CHIPS
2102 IK x 1 Static RAM 80p IM 6402 UART £4 50
f3 5 ° 2114 IK x 4 Static RAM £2.95
2716 £650
MK 4116 16K * 1 Dynamic RAM
£1 50
All including VAT
4118 IK x 8 Static RAM £7.50
MONITORS (PROFESSIONAL)
RECONDITIONED AND NEW FROM £35 00 to £1 29.95
CENTRONICS Ideal for Tangerine
PRINTERS
sheikosha£199 + va t
M odel 730 £350 +vat
M odel 737 £395 +vat
NEWMICROTANTEL
POST OFFICE APPROVED
PRESTEL- VIEWDATA
• FULL COLOURGFIAPHICS • CAN
STORE PRESTEL • CAN BE USED AS fc 1 / II
AN EDITING TERMINAL • CAN BE 7?
INTERFACED WITH PET. APPLE, and NASCOM
Just connect to the aerial socket of any colour or black and while
domestic T V receiver and lo your Post Office installed jack socket and
you are into the exerting world ol PRESTEL Via simple push button use
you are able to view 1 70.000 pages ol up to the minute information on
many services, order goods from companies all this without leaving
your armchair'
■ NEW PRODUCTS |AjVAT*e«
I System Motn.ftjo.rd (4 Connector)
■ System Morhertioerd (12 Connoctof)
| Extra Edge Connectors
<T> Reck Front Panel
44 85
72 85
350
1564
Senel I/O Board Met (2 Ports)
Sene) I/O Board Max (8 Ports)
ParaXer I/O Board Mm (16 Lines)
Parallel I/O Board Max (128 Lines)
32K Ramcard 16K Version
32K Ramcard 32K Version
32K Rom board (Exd Rom)
68 70
135 70
54 63
9*148
87 40
11500
54 65
AIM/ KIM Bu«er
Controller Card Ful
Controller Card Mm
CBUO. Combmed Tanbug & XBUG
2 Port. Serial I/O Kit
High Resolution Graphics
Aim TV Interlace
54 64
138 00
69 00
T B A
TB A
90 85
79 35
Minimum
Config Kit
+ V A T £6 45. tolal £49 45
TANEX £43.00
CONTENTS
High quality plated thru hole printed circuit board, solder resist and silk
screened component identification 1C sockets lor maximum expansion |
64 Way 0 I N edge connector IK RAM. cassette interlace. 16 parallel
I/O lines a T T l serial I/O port two 16 bit counter timers, data bus
buffering memory mapping logic and discrete components for
maximum expansion TANEX users manual r — ^
TANEX (Minimum configuration) Assembled V\W.w i V^V\l
£53.00 + VAT £7 95 total £60 95
TANEX EXPANSION
Expanded TANEX offers 7K RAM
locations for 4K EPROM (2716).
locations for 10K extended
MICROSOFT BASIC. 32 parallel I/O
lines, two TTL serial I/O ports, a
third serial I/O port with
RS232 '20mA loop, lull modem
control and 16 programmable baud >
rates four 16 bit counter timers
cassette interface, data bus
buffering and memory mapping
EXPANDED TANEX KIT (Excludes ROM XBUG and BASIC)
£89.70 + V A T £13 46. total £103 16
EXPANDED TANEX ASSEMBLED
£99.70 + V A T £14 96 total £114 66
OPTIONS TO FULLY EXPANDED TANEX
10K Extended MICROSOFT BASIC in EPROM (with manual)
£49 00 +V AT £7 35. total £56 35
Extra RAM 1 K (2 x 21 14) £5 20 + V A T 78p. total £5 98
SERIAL I/O KIT El 7.25 incl.
6522 VIA £8 00 + V A T £120. total £9 20
XBUG f 1 7 35 + V A T £2 60. total fl 9 95
+ 12V KIT E9.20 incl.
AS YOU CAN SEE THE PRICES OF OUR EXPANSION
COMPONENTS ARE VERY. VERY COMPETITIVE'
TANGERINE DISC SYSTEM
Z 80 CONTROLLER CARD £ 1 50.00 WAT
DOUBLE SIDED DOUBLE DENSITY DRIVE
£215.00 wat
CP/M DISK OPERATING SYSTEM * on ^
toU WAT
71 KEY ASCII KEYBOARD £69.95 incl.
NO EXTRAS NEEDED
Uses gold crosspoint keys Includes numeric keypad and ribbon cable
Available as fully assembled and tested
SUPER METAL CABINET IN TANGERINE / BLACK
£20.00 +VAT f3 00. total £23 00
PROFESSIONAL ASCII KEYBOARDS
Ideal for
Tangerine
£29.95 .v*T
• 52 key 7 bit ASCII coded • Superbly made
• Positive strobe *5V 1 2V • Size 13x55x1 5 ms
• Full ASCII characters • Black keys with white ledgens
■ Parallel output with stfobe • Escape shift return &
• Power light on control reset
■ Chip by General Instrument • Control repeat & bell keys
(G I ) TTL output • Complete with DATA
ADD-ON
KEYPAD
A compact 12 button keypad
suitable for use with above
keyboard to extend its (unctions
plus four extra keys Supplied
brand new with with data A
4x4 no n-encoded single mode
keyboard
PLUS MANY NEW EXCITING PRODUCTS IN
DEVELOPMENT AUTOMATICALLY AVAILABLE FROM
US WHEN RELEASED BY TANGERINE LTD. All
products are available FULLY GUARANTEED • BUY
WITH CONFIDENCE BRITISH DESIGN &
MANUFACTURE AND ON DEMONSTRATION IN OUR
COMPUTER DEPT
LIST PRICE
£22 00
OUR PRICE
£7.95
♦VAT
ISIKSmS ‘VUNnm -tangerine ‘Tangerine •tangerine •tangerine ‘Tangerine ‘Tangerine
computer Z ™ °o n head<K ? " olepaper ,0: , , „ All orders pre-paid and olficial advertised here
COMPUTER KIT LTD.fPrmcipa I Distributors in U K ) to be forwarded niRFPTi v
1 1/1 2 Paddington Green, London. W2. Tele 01 723 5095 L, im ~ ~ ^ .
Lfeiex 262284 Ref 1 400 TRANSQNics COMPUTER DEPT., 1 1/1 2 PADDINGTON GREEN, LONDON
22
• Circle No. 119
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
How well does your
computer
understand you?
You don’t need to understand computers
if your computer understands you.
• Circle No. 120
Together you and you r com puter can form a great team .Analysing your problems and form u lating
solutions-q u ickly, accu rately and cost effectively.
Through Vector Graphic products the right system can a be found for you and your company.
MEMORITE III, probably the best word processor on a com puter system today: including mailing list
merge, spelling, dictionary, phrase library, password system, help screens.
EXECU PLAN . The information system that replaces the calculator, pencil and paper. The system that
adapts to you, never forgets, speeds up your workflow, and it’s a perfect typist too!
MEMORITE and EXECUPLAN are just two of the packages helping business today, others include:
solicitors packages, accounts, stock control, payroll, job costing, estimating, planning, printers job costing,
manufacturing and a host of scientific and technical systems.
All Vector systems are based on the Industry Standard S-100 Bus Configuration and CP/M
operating system. Call us today -we’ll be pleased to arrange a
demonstration. Then you can judge the benefits for yourself.
Almarc
data systems
Almarc Data Systems Limited, Great Freeman Street,
Nottingham NG3 IFR.Tel: (0602) 52657.
Telex: 37407 Almarc/G.
Also at: Green Street, High Wycombe,
Bucks. HP 1 1 2RF Tel: (0494) 23804.
APPROVED ALMARC DEALERS
BAIDOCK McxJus Systems
BIRMINGHAM Tj, >rM<ro Systems LW
DONCASTER Reed Comps,-
HlGHW YCOMBE Common Serve Bus ness
Systems
HARROGATE Business Mn rosy stems
KE n ERING SRuttleworth Business Systems
LONDON M ( * o Systems Consultants
LOUTH CompuU-Cnop
NOn INGHAM Bestmoc' Lm ted
SWANSEA Bus ness M<rosystems
TYNlKWEAR HPMk.os
YEOVIL Dale Computer
0462 1 694848
(021) 3S8 2*36
f070W0B7
’0»94jO116
(0423)68224
OS36)S113S7
(01 ) 9/94098
(OSQ/1604271.2
(0602) 41 S3 IS
07*2)474082
(0632)8S9923
(093S) 23097
23
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
‘ C F A C C ’
“THE BEST ACCOUNTS PROGRAMME ON THE MARKET” — £900
(Fully tailored to your own requirements — £1200 if you buy the hardware from us, otherwise £1500)
MAIN MENU-
1 .
ADDRESS PROGRAMME
16.
2.
SALES INVOICES
17.
3.
PURCHASE INVOICES
18.
4.
STOCK CONTROL
19.
5.
ORDER CONTROL
20.
6.
PAYROLL
21.
7.
PAYMENTS MADE
22.
8.
PAYMENTS RECEIVED
23.
9.
CREDITORS
24.
10 .
DEBTORS
25.
11.
SUPPLIER STATEMENTS
26.
12.
CUSTOMER STATEMENTS
27.
13.
AGENTS STATEMENTS
28.
14.
PRINT CUSTOMER INDEX
29.
15.
PRINT SUPPLIER INDEX
30.
bank RECONCILIATION
PURCHASE LEDGER
SALES LEDGER
END OF MONTH PROCEDURE
VAT STATEMENTS
MANAGEMENT FINANCIAL REPORTS
PROFIT & LOSS ACCOUNT
BALANCE SHEET
CAPITAL ASSETS
JOB COST ANALYSIS
DISK DIRECTORIES
ALTER INCORRECT FILE ENTRIES
PRINT LEDGER CODES
PRINT STOCK LIST
FINISH USING ‘CFACC’
-PLEASE ENTER SELECTION NUMBER-
CFACC’ ACCOUNTS PROGRAMME — COPYRIGHT COMPUTERS FOR ALL LTD
1 . The Programme resides totally "in core” leaving BOTH DISKS FREE for files and enabling disks to be changed durino use
constant aSTfheAufhnr Wi ' h Company s details. Our "After Sa 9 |es Servic^' fs pSe givTng you
constant access to the Author of CFACC . — We arrange Nationwide hardware support a y y
will a« ,M ou ' M ' CFA0C «■ C,OOU “ a " •» DATfi '» »>. fY 09 rarar.es f «
i M^mfoSSSS&S^ CUST0 “ 6RS - SUPPLIERS, EMPLOYEES end others.
6. Automatic calculations of WAGES and SALARIES.
L| l cuSsir?ltom P a r tic UCed automa,ically using Customers ' names and addresses from file and Stock items from file - all
ai the end'of the da^Tu^chtime'et^ ° n P ' a ' n P3Per ° f ° n y0Uf 0wn stationery ' Voices entered are retained for automatic printing
rtem^whicf^has reach^d^E^ORDER^ C^henever a Purchase of Sales Invoice is entered and the User's attention is drawn to any
lnirtm U a S t!^iw r S{ ^ {e ^ n{s P r «nted on demand showing Current, 1 Month, 2 Months, and 3 Months and over fiqures. These are
RFMT^AN^F U M d nT^ aS P a V m . ents . af e entered. The User's attention is drawn to any Customer exceeding his CREDIT LIMIT
? 1 E ^!T TAN ,? E NpI ES are Produced of invoices selected for payment — CHEQUE PRINTING optional 9
Open Item ledgers retain all invoices until they are paid (Purchase and Sales).
? u slandln 9, Orders are retained on file until invoiced (Purchase and Sales).
13. Automatically calculates COMMISSION due to Agents and Salesmen.
14. DEBTOR and CREDITOR lists available on demand.
15. PROFIT & LOSS ACCOUNT. BALANCE SHEET and TRIAL BALANCE printouts on demand
16. MANAGEMENT FINANCIAL REPORTS include: i) GROSS PROFIT RATIO
ii) RATE OF STOCK TURNOVER.
iii) NET PROFIT as a PERCENTAGE OF SALES.
iv) INCOME STATEMENTS.
„„ v) AGE OF DEPT ANALYSIS.
17. CAPITAL ASSETS STATEMENT on demand.
time NC ° ME & EXPENDITURE is ana| y sed into 70 ledger classifications and the amounts in any one of these can be called at any
19. ENVELOPES or ADDRESS labels can be printed from Address Files.
20. Full Random Access to any record in any file — No Limit on Record Lengths
21. Ledgers are automatically updated after every transaction.
22. All sections of the Programme and files are fully integrated.
c,aim t0 be eas V t0 use with no need for a manual (BUT TO THE LAYMAN THEY
N0T )' ‘‘ CFACCM really is USER ORIENTATED — WE ARE PREPARED TO LET YOU PROVE THIS FOR
W?TH^N^ USE UNDED ,N FULL IF Y0U CAN SH0W US A BETTER MICROCOMPUTER ACCOUNTS PROGRAMME*
24. The PRICE makes “CFACC” the best VALUE FOR MONEY on the Market
25. Fully tested and debugged.
F^^ce andTeasing^an be l ^rranged Pr ' 0r ‘° inS,a,la,ion “ Normal Guarantees on aN Equipment Service Contracts available -
27. DELIVERY and INSTALLATION FREE within UK.
“CFACC” aVe examp,es °* other Accounts Programmes on the market which you are welcome to try, and compare them with
29. PETS, TANDY’S & APPLES taken in part exchange for complete systems.
64K ‘SUPERBRAIN’ (350K DISK STORAGE) — DAISYWHEEL PRINTER WITH KEYBOARD
“CFACC” ACCOUNTS — “WORDSTAR” Word Processing.
★ ★ ALL FOR £3,986.00 ★ ★
Computers For All Ltd, Stratford on Avon (0789) 840064
| 24-Hour Service (Not Machine) on 021-236 1794 Ext. 224.
24
• Circle No. 121
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
Thinking of computerisation
it’s a
hard day’s
night
. . . trying to keep up with all your company
sales and purchases or your stock control and
invoicing but still having doubts about the
confusing mass of computer jargon?
If you are a small to medium size company
why not contact us and arrange a
demonstration, or even come to one of our
'Open Evenings'.
We are computer specialists - with a
difference. We don't believe in blinding people
with science, we'll actually sit down and
explain all the jargon to you. You 11 be able to
see for yourself how simple it is to use one of
our programmes by having a go on one of our
machines, in no time at all you'll discover how
flexible our systems really are.
Our programmes are suitable for most
Business Computer Systems - in fact we are
not bound to any one manufacturer. All the
good computer suppliers know about us and
many of them mention us in their ads so you 11
be in good hands.
Contact Philippa Toone on 01-727 5561 - she 11
be delighted to hear from you.
102 Portland Road Holland Park London Wll 4LX
• Circle No. 122
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
25
ELECTRONIC GAMES
COLOUR CARTRIDGE
f-V. GAM E^
v fvis
v \
SEMI-PROGRAMMABLE T V GAME
♦ 4 Cartridges * Mains
Adaptor f
Normal Price £73 JUO%7 50
NOW REDUCED TO: me vat a
T.V. GAME
FULLY PROGRAMMABLE
CARTRIDGE TV GAME
14 Cartridges available
Normal Price £87 86
NOW REDUCED TO:
ATARI
T.V.
GAME
SPACE INVADERS
(Z\ ffii ffi ffi ffl
A fc A
£59
The most popular T"V Game on
the market with a range of over
40 cartridges including SPACE AA C
[INVADERS with over 112jG»ww>
games on one cartridge (nc vat
Hand held Invaders Games available £19 95
♦ Invaders Cartridges available to fit
AJAR! RADOFIN ACE TRONIC PHILIPS G 7000
♦ Cartridges also available for
MATTEL TELENG ROWTRON
DATABASE INTERTON
CHESS COMPUTERS
X ~
MANY UNITS
ARE COVERED BY^
THE EXCLUSIVE
LSILICA SHOP 2 YEAR GUARANTEE
We carry a range of over 15
different Chess computers:
Electronic Chess £29.95
Chess Traveller £39.95
IChess Challenger 7 £79.00
^ Sensory 8 £119.00
fr Sensory Voice £259.00
SPECIAL OFFERS
VOICE CHESS CHALLENGER
Normal Price £24b NOW £135.00
SARGON 2 5 BORIS 2 5
Normal Price £273 70 NOW £199.95
All prices include VAT
TELETEXT
ADD-ON
ADAPTOR
£199
me VAT
THE RADOFIN TELETEXT ADD-ON
ADAPTOR
Plug the adaptor into the aerial socket of your
colour T V and receive the CEEFAX and
ORACLE television information services
THIS NEW MODEL INCORPORATES
' Double height character facility
• True PAL Colour
‘ Meets latest BBC & IBA broadcast specifications
’ Push button channel change
* Unnecessary to remove the unit to watch normal
TV programmes
* Gold plated circuit board lor reliability
• New SUPERIMPOSE News Flash facility
SPEAK & SPELL r ADDING MACHINE
Normal Price £49 95
NOW REDUCED TO:
£39.50 VAT
Teach your child to
spell properly with
this unique learning
aid Fully automatic
features and scoring
Additional word
modules available to
extend the range of
words
OLYMPIA HHP 1010
Normal Price £57 21
NOW REDUCED TO
£34 vat
Uses ordinary paper'
No need to buy expensive
thermal paper'
Fast add listing PRINTER
CALCULATOR 2 lines per
second, tO digit capacity
OOfflBR Uses normal adding
3SIIBOI machine rolls Ballery or
3BRBBBO mams operated
30RM00 S./e 9Vx4Vx2V
I Mams adaptor ritrsl
24 TUNE
ELECTRONIC DOOR
i BELL
Normal Price £1 9 70
NOW REDUCED TO
£12
■ .70 me VAT
Plays 24 different tunes
with separate speed
control and volume
control Select the most
appropriate tune for your
visitor with appropriate
tunes for different ttmps of
the year’
HAND HELD GAMES
EARTH INVADERS
These invaders are a breed of creature hitherto
unknown to man They cannot be killed by
traditional methods - they must be buried The
battle is conducted in a maze where squads of
aliens chase home iroops The only way of
eliminating them is by ^ /\! IB
digging holes andw M ^ W /
^burying them VA
HAND HELD GAMES
I GALAXY
1000
The 2nd generation Galaxy Invader The invaders
have re grouped and have a seemingly endless
supply ol spacecraft whilst the player s arsenal is
limited lo just 2b0 missiles to be launched from 3
missile stations You have lo prevent the invaders
. landing or l'om*a as
I destroying your home li | U Uk w
^defences JU JLa/m/s#m/
THE OLYMPIA — POST OFFICE APPROVED
TELEPHONE ANSWERING MACHINE
WITH REMOTE CALL-IN BLEEPER
This telephone answering machine is manufactured by Olympia Business Machines, one of the
largest Office Equipment manufacturers in the UK It is fully POST OFFICE APPROVED and will
answer and record messages for 24 hours a day With your remote call-in bleeper you can receive
these messages by telephone wherever you are in the world The remote call-in bleeper activates the
Answer Record Unit, which will at your command repeat messages, keep or erase them and .s
activated from anywhere in the world, or on your return to your home or office The machine can also
be used for message referral, if you have an urgent appointment, but are expecting an important call
simply record the phone number' and location where you can be reached With optional extra
bleepers (£13 each) this facility can be
extended to colleagues and members of
the family Using a C90 standard cassette
you can record as many as 45 messages
The announcement can be up to 16
seconds long and the incoming message
up to 30 seconds lonq
The machine is easy to install and comes
with full instructions It is easily wired to
your junction box with the spade connec
tors provided or alternatively a jack plug
can be provided to plug into a jack socket
Most important, of course, is the fact that
it is fully POST OFFICE APPROVED
The price of £1 35 (inc VAT) includes the
machine an extra-light remote call-in
Bleeper, the microphone message tape
A C mains adaptor The unit is
9 Vx6"x2' and is fully guaranteed for
1 2 months The telephone can be placed
directly on the unit no additional desk
space is required
£135
J
The most advanced T V y.ime in the world 20
C.irtridges available Add ^
on KEYBOARD corning & 1 UU „ c
soon to convert thr A# A V V.95 VAT
MATTEL to a home computer with 16K RAM fully
expandable and programmable in Microsoft Basic
JDther accessories will be available later in the year
PRESTEL
VIEWDATA
PrEstel
The ACE TELCOM VDX1000 Prestel View
data adaptor simply plugs into the aerial
socket of your television and enables you to
receive the Prestel Viewdata service in
colour or black & white
Features
Simplified controls lor quick easy operatin '
Special graphics feature lor high resolution
Slate ol the art microprocessor contiullei
Standard remote telephone keypad with Prestel
keys * #
Auto dialler incorporated lor easy Prestel
acquisition
True PAL colour encoder using reliable 1C
chroma filter and dela line incorporated lor
minimum picture interference maximum
fidelity
Includes convenient TV Prestel switchbox
Easily connected to standard home or oflice
telephone lines
Fully Post Ollice approved
£^£228.85 ;
FOR FREE BROCHURES -TEL: 01-301 1111
\fSiliuh Sluyp J ■
P* high^
fcTnC-U P HILL t
STREET
NOTE The lop ol H ether ley Road
IS one way only Please enter trom
Sidcup High Slreel
\\
l T0 CHISIEMURS1
main boap__
WKmMJ 0U ce
~ \ STATION
UtMAMl
™Vi n ' 1 "‘i M,a, r d 1 ‘woeburt- and reviews on oor range ol electronic games please telephoned
XJ ACCE SSmScLAVCARD T r d “' ' ,V t}UO,P ******
• CALLERS WELCOME Demonstrations dady at out S.d< up shop opei
• 7 < Vf > A'n r AMTtV' '* Late Opening Fi.day 8pr
. VI AH GUARANTEE An is are - overed by a lull year \ guarantee am
• ii'A'IT’ fT' °. u ' s " ‘ j Shop 2 >eai Guarantee
MONEv BACK UNDERTAKING If you are unsatisfied with your purchase andi
7 days we wdl u-ve you a lull refund
• rOMPFTmvF pmrcQ £ Ava "‘ ,Wr on J " machines out ol guarantee
• Mmnfit' 4nt,rr C£S A We ate never knowingly undersold
• ri. n t U Available on the suitability ol each machine
CREDIT FACILITIES Full credit facilities available over t2 74 or 26 months ,
v from 9am 6pm
s guarantee and many are further
rates ol interest
• PART EXCHANGE SCHEME
• CREDIT CARDS WELCOME
available on second hand machines
Alievs Ha'cMyCaid Omeistlub American E •prri
-S8S&
SILICA SHOP LIMITED Pc 2 /e 2
1-4 The Mews. Hatherley Road. Sidcup. Kent DAI 4 4DX
Telephone: 01 -301 1111 or 01 -309 1111
'"•1(1111
) ']||
‘•'lllllllH Mil
> |||
MHIIIlllI' •(
'lllllllllll MU
'Hill!
'•11111111' 'inlll' mii
•Hill mii
*M||||||||I
• Circle No. 123
Over the last two years, more than 2,000 non-technical users in the UK alone used the British program DMS to
keep personnel records, mailing lists, sales records, maintenance contract records, electoral rolls, blood donor
records, patient and pharmacy records, stockfiles, library lists, insurance brokers records, property manage-
ment files, client records, etc. In fact the uses of DMS range from parrot breeding records right through to
murder hunt records!
COMPSOFT’S DMS
DATA MANAGEMENT
SYSTEM
DMS on CP/M* links to WORDSTAR, SUPERCALC,
SPELLBINDER, and USER WRITTEN SOFTWARE and
can automatically convert DATASTAR files into DMS
format.
DMS on COMMODORE PETS links to WORDCRAFT,
WORDPRO and VISICALC, and USER WRITTEN
SOFTWARE.
Designed for use by clerical, management and secretarial staff, the easy to read manual leads first time users
through the following powerful functions.
1 . Create file, type in and amend records.
2. Sort records into alphabetic, date or numeric order.
3. Select batches of records which meet various parameters.
4. Print lists, reports, letters, self-adhesive labels.
5. Perform sophisticated calculations routines. . H ™ atorl ^th a
6. Merge information from DMS (usually names and addresses) with standard letters created with a
wordprocessing package, such as WORDSTAR, WORDCRAFT and WORDPRO.
7. Transfer data to and from user written software.
8. Merge, copy, and split data files without losing existing data.
9. Datastar users can now convert automatically to DMS and retain their existing files.
DMS is ideal for first time users who want power, flexibility, AND simplicity.
Available for all types of COMMODORE Pets (details vary), or most CP/M machines with h fi rd or floppy discs,
including the NEC PC8000, The RANK XEROX 820, RAIR, SUPERBRAINS, SD machines, HEATH, CIFER,
EQUINOX, SHELTON, and many more.
Full details: COMPSOFT LTD, Great Tangley Manor Farm, Wonersh, Guildford,
Surrey GU5 OPT. Tel: Guildford (0483) 505918 or 39665.
*CP/M is a registered trade mark of Digital Research.
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
• Circle No. 124
27
The model of good business.
Tuscan — the all -British microcomputer
With a proven record of steady development behind
it, the Tuscan S100 now goes a step forward, solving
the problem of effective backup storage.
1 he Tuscan S100, Britain’s first S100 computer on
a single boai d, is now available with designed-in mini-
Winchester drive for better performance, shorter
access time and higher transfer rate. All this from
Britain’s own home-grown micro manufacturer.
Systems with printer, screen and CP/M start at
£2125 with twin floppies, and at £3625 with one
floppy and one 5-meg. mini Winchester.
SOFTWARE. Business accounts packages start at
£800 when purchased with the Tuscan system. Word
processing packages start at £315; Database packages
start at £100.
HARDWARE. Flexibility is the key feature of all
Tuscan systems. A choice of storage capacity, video
format and graphics is available. The Tuscan S100
can read and write in sixteen different disk formats
with a choice of 5 >4 "or 8 "drives.
SUPPORT. I he Tuscan S100, designed and built
in Britain, is backed by Transam’s substantial experi-
ence in electronics plus a dedicated hardware and
software team. National third party maintenance is
available at ten per cent of hardware costs.
BUSINESS SYSTEM DEALERS. Business
Equipment Centre, 10 Edge Lane. Liverpool,
lei: 263 5783. Contact: Rod Crofts.
Pui ley Computeis, 21 Bartholomew Street, Newbury
Berkshire. Tel: 41784. Contact: Ron Smith.
28
FURTHER INFORMAT ION. Two new cata-
logues covering “systems and peripherals” and
“CP/M Software” are available, giving details of our
systems and services. Call or write for yours.
TIRAIN5AM
TRANSAM COMPONENTS LIMITED
59/61 THEOBALD’S ROAD, LONDON WC1
Tel: 01-405 5240/2113. Telex: 24224 (Ref 1422)
• Circle No. 125
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
62
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itfVWA 3?ti$ 3WMJJ03. 37JJV m33$H JSON 3HJ-
low cost nigh quality
interfaces....
We are specialist suppliers of
CBM PET and HP 85
compatible interfaces.
We also supply complete systems
for industrial and laboratory
monitoring and control.
Custom design undertaken.
Callers welcome for demonstration.
Digital Design and
Development
18 1 9 Warren Street London W1P5DB Tel 01 387 7388
IEEE-488 compatible systems .
• 8 channel 1 2-bit A/D convertor
• 8 channel 1 2 bit D/A convertor -
• 16 channel 12-bit A/D convertor
with software programmable
amplifier.
• 1 6 channel 8-bit A/D convertor
• 8 channel 8-bit D/A convertor
• X-V analog plotter interface
digital data input unit, 64 bits
digital data output unit, 64 bits
16 channel relay control unit
All the above units are boxed complete with
IEEE-488 address internally selectable, integral
power supply, switch, fuse, indicators etc.
Illustrative BASIC software supplied.
• user port convertor A/D plus D/A
• fast data acquisiton system
40,000 readings per sec.
4 A/D + 4 D/A
All nrires EX-VAT.
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
Circle No. 129
31
32
CP/M 280/8080 SOFTWARE
SuperSoft now on mail order from
EXCLUSIVE EUROPEAN DISTRIBUTORS
FOR SUPERSOFT
doital da/ices ltd
“C” COMPILER
The compiler supports most of version 7 Unix
standard “C”. Macro expansions. Include files.
Inline assembly code. The object code may be
ROMed. Programs may be ORGed for any location.
Completely dynamic memory allocation is support-
ed. A two pass compiler, the first pass of the
compiler produces an intermediate code. Pass two
contains both the translator and the optimizer. An
important feature of the compiler is that assembly
code is produced. This means that “hand optimiz-
ation of critical sections is possible.
Requires: 48K CP/M, (more recommended)
^?"£0 mpiler: 211588 Manual only: £15.00
28000 cross-compiler: £285.00 (CP/M to 28000
code, requires 28000 assembler)
Manual only: £15.00
FORTRAN IV & RATFOR
L h ,S S i S ? ^ 0 nT5^ N A^ ) o ri [ 1piler is fast ’ efficient, and
888 ANSI standard with extensions).
The RATFOR compiler compiles into FORTRAN
allowing the user to write structured code while
retamingthe benefitsof FORTRAN. Many advanced
features supported; complex arithmetic, character
variables, and functions. SSS RATFOR allows the
use of contemporary structured programming
techniques. REPEAT . . . UNTIL WHILE IF . , 9
THEN . . ELSE . . . SSS RATFOR is supplied with
source code. (Serial interface only)
Requires: 32K CP/M, 280 only
ratfor TRAN
RATFOR manual only: £5 55
FORTRAN manual only: £15.00
FORTH
StackWork’s FORTH is full, extended FORTH
L%T r K eer/( L ompiler that Produces COMPACT
ROMable code. As fast as compiled FORTRAN as
easy to use as interactive BASIC. SELF COMPILING
Includes every line of source code necessary to re-
compile Itself; EXTENSIBLE, add functions at will’
P P |^ 0MPATIBLE: 280 & 8080 ASSEMBLER^
included.
2115.88 Manual only: £15.00
DIAGNOSTICS I
DIAGNOSTICS I is a complete program package
designed tocheck every major area of your computer
•Memory Test -CPU Test (8080/8085/280)
•Printer Test •DiskTest •CRTTest
Requires: 32KCP/M
252.88 Manual only: £10.00
DIAGNOSTICS II
As DIAGNOSTICS I with extensions. Every test is
submit“-able. All output can be directed to a log
file for unattended operation. A quick-test has been
added for quick verification of the working of the
system Memory test includes: Default to the size
of the CP/M Transient Program Area Printout of a
graphic memory map Burn in test Bank selection
speed test, "a Sp in writer /Diabio/
ded. (Serial interface only)
Manual only: £10.00
Qume test has been added.
Requires: 32KCP/M
£65.00
TERM II
The TERM II subsystem is an interactive program
a lowmg any CP/M computer to communicate with
other TERM II user and other computers in general.
Users may ‘talk” easily to one another. Users may
transmit selected ASCII files to one another and
Ac?n n * exte - na ! C0 ™PJ Jter system by emulating an
ASCII terminal. Perform, under user control
character translation. TERM II is distributed as an
8080 assembler source file and requires the user to
patch the modem ports into the program
Requires: 32K CP/M
2115,88 Manual only: £10.00
UTILITY PACK I
Utility Pack I is a collection of versatile general
purpose routines that can speed program develop-
ment. •GREP: Searches a list of files for the specif-
ied string. -CMP: Compares two files and
displays the differences. *AR: Archiver. Puts
many files into one large file which has its own
directory. •SORT: In RAM variable length record
shell sort.
Requires: 24K CP/M
£45.00
UTILITY PACK 2
Translates one user defined set of characters in a
list of files to another set. Replaces every occurance
of one user defined string in a list of files with
another string. Compares two source files and
displays the minimum number of differences
Concentrates a list of files.
Requires: 32KCP/M
£45.00
DISK DOCTOR
DISK DOCTOR for CP/M: a program to recover
cashed discettes AUTOMATICALLY! DISK
DOCTOR does not require any knowledge of CP/M
file structure! If you can operate CP/M, then you
can use DISK DOCTOR. Verifies discettes and
ocks out bad sectors without touching the good
files that remain. Copies whatever can be read from
a “crashed" file and places it into a good file.
Copies discettes without stopping for bad sectors
Un-erases” files.
Requires: 48K CP/M. Two drives are needed for
complete operation.
285,88 Manual only: £5.00
MAG
PRISM, a complete information management
system integrating the best features of a versatile
database system with those of a sophisticated
program development system. PRISM/ IMS is the
database management section. No programming
whatsoever is required; applications include:
•Patient records -Property listings •Information
control -Customer lists -Entirely menu oper-
ated, yet uses multi-keyed files -Powerful browse
and query capability.
PRISM/ ADS is a complete development tool for
specialized applications: -User defined menus
•Screen management functions •Complete library
of fully debugged routines (e.g. entry & edit)
pmeffintje > management system provided.
PRISM/LMS Is the ultimate multipurpose list
management system. 1001 uses — mailing lists,
customer lists, parts lists etc. Store the information
you require. Menu driven. Fully formatted. No
programming or technical expertise
PRISM requires: 48K CP/M & C BASIC 2. Cursor
fnclutoP^ISM IMS. h Cl6ar SCrMn - PRISM ADS
PRISM/ IMS £380.00 Manual only £68 00
PRISM/LMS £210.00 Manua 0 : £55 00
PRISM/ ADS £585.00 Manual only: £80.‘00
MICROSTAT
ECOSOFT
r^l« a R r?h STA H T *• Advanced stats pack for use In
research, education and industry. Complete Data
Management Subsystem, includes edit, sort, rank
f H° re *P at : a transform s, arithmetic
and logarithmic. Hypothesis tests. ANOVA. Simple
& multiple regression. Correlation analysis
1 1 Non-parametrfc tests. y
Manual includes sample printouts.
£150.00 Manual only: £20.00
MICROSTAT II
Enhanced version of I includes: moments, skew-
ness, kurtosis — stepwise multiple regression,
faster sort, lonaer file names, ability to declare
each data files numeric precision, expanded
^anual g ,v| ng equations and file structures.
am 0 ?. . __ Manual only: £25.00
Nortffstar DOS BASIC 2 ’ microsoft BASIC 80, &
registered Trade Marks MICROSOFT BASIC 80 is
the rade mark of Microsoft Inc., NORTH STAR of
North Star Computers Inc.
ENCODE/DECODE I/ll
ENCODE/ DECODE is a sophisticated coding
system for CP/M. Essentially, one codes files when
they are not needed and decodes the files when
access is required. Access is inhibited in two ways.
First, there is a user defined password. Second, the
user defined combination is needed to decode a file.
There are 10,000,000,000 possible combinations!
The essential difference between I & II is that a
second hash is done using the user suDDlied
combination.
Requires: 32KCP/M
ENCODE/ DECODE I: £40 00
ENCODE/ DECODE II: £ 65 go
Manuals only: £15.00
PEACHTREE
MAGIC WAND, a word processing package that is
simple to use. Full screen 80 column text editing
including: -Character, word, line delete, charact-
er, paragraph insert -Block copy, move or delete
•Forwardor backward page or line scroll -Margins
left top and bottom, flush and justify -Merge
wdh external data files. Powerful print processor
includes: -Automatic margins and paragraph
indentation -Pagination -Headers and footers
*J ru ?i ? rop ? r ^ ona * s P ac > n 0 with speciality printer
•Conditional print commands at run time
Requires: 32k CP/M and CRT with addressable
cursor.
Available on North Star Horizon or Superbrain
specify printer. ’
2188 * „ Manual only: £20.00
Magic Spell £140 00
MAGSAM
MAGSAM picks up where your BASIC leaves off by
providing it with a powerful Keyed File Manage-
ment System that is quick and easy to use, providing
features seldom found on any computer micro, mini
or mainframe: -Sophisticated access techniques
random, sequential and generic retrievals by key
•Secondary indexing with any number of keys
•Key and record deletes with auto reclaim of freed
space -Concantenated keys -File structures are
dynamically allocated, and compatible with BASIC
facilities' 1 6S * ,nteractive tutorial and file dump
CBAS| C-2, Microsoft BASIC 80
COMPILER/INTER p RETER8080or 280
mapqIm iv/ ._/• u, , Manual only: £55.00
MAGSAM IV High performance assembler version
75% faster than III
2248,88 Manual only: £55.00
C BASIC only Source 8080 Assembler
Magsams need 32K, 48K recommended if memory
is critical, telephone for exact details of your
implementation needs.
Terms & Conditions
availab| e from stock on North Star 5.25 in
co ( cS' (occasionally on DS/DD), 8.00 in IBM 3|40
SS/SD, a nd on Superbrain DD/QD, other formats
available please enquire. Cash with order please.
Post & Packing at £1.00 per item, plus VAT at 15%.
All orders sent 1st class post. The manual cost is
deductable on subsequent software purchases.
Dealers terms available on request
Technical advice HOT-LINE (0892) 20307, answered
only when technician available
eARCLAYCARD, ACCESS. DINERS CLUB
AMERICAN EXPRESS, ACCEPTED.
djl
digital devices ltd
134 LONDON ROAD . SOUTHBOROUGH
TUNBRIDGE WELLS. KENT
Tel: [0892] 37977-9 39546-9
280 and Z8000 are hademarRs o, ZHop In, ^^nehad^mark oK§>'mDi?er 3 Sv3t6m^ N ^ X ^ Be " Lat ~'° S
Telex: 95582
• Circle No. 130
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
Now we never
say no
Icarus can now offer a complete range
of microcomputers from 320K- 80M
COMMANDER COMPUTERS
IEEE Communications Port with 4
RS-232 serial ports and 4 8-bit parallel
ports. Full graphics standard. Three
models. Options-techtronics emulation,
IEEE interface, D.M.A., arithmetic
processing unit, realtime interface.
MULTI-USER MULTI-PROCESSOR
SYSTEMS
Designed to give unparalleled performance for one to
16 users. Each terminal has a dedicated processor with
its own RAM.
SINGLE AND MULTI-USER UPGRADEABLE/
EXPANDABLE SYSTEMS
Offering the disk storage capacity that's exactly right for you. Single user
machines to take 5Va " or 8" floppy disks giving 320K-2.4M capacity and
multi-user machines with up to 60M on hard disk.
A comprehensive new range of microcomputers so versatile that a system may be compiled for each and every micro-based
application - that’s the exciting news from Icarus. Columbia Data Systems of the USA has appointed Icarus to handle its full
range of CP/M^and MP/Mlingle and multi-terminal products with hard and floppy disk storage capacities. Which means that
whenever you need a microcomputer, for whatever purpose, Icarus will never have to say no.
For full details of the complete Columbia range, or if you would like to become a dealer yourself, contact
Icarus Computer Systems Ltd. Deane House 27 Greenwood Place London NW51NN Tel: 01-485 5574 Telex: 264209
CPI M & and MP/M^ are the registered trademarks of Digital Research. £ Circle No. 131
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
THE REVOLUTIONARY TWOSOME
SDM Computer Services are major distributors of the Intertec Superbrain
micro computer. This machine has established itself as the micro for the
serious business user ... it is not an upgraded hobby system.
Running, as it does, under the CP/M operating system, there is a wealth of
readily available commercial software and SDM have their own tried and
tested suite of packages covering:
Invoicing • Stock • Sales ledger •
Purchase & Nominal ledgers • Payroll
All models are available from double density through the 1.5MB system to
the (shortly to be announced) Superbrain W6 which includes a 5MB
Winchester.
Full software and engineering support when you buy from SDM.
MPI-88G — everything you need
H
SUPERBRAIN — built for commerce
This printer has more standard facilities than any other at a similar price:
— RS232 serial and Centronics type parallel,
IK byte buffer
— Upper and lower case 96 character ASCII set,
100 cps maximum
— 10, 12, 16.5 cpi and correspondence font
— High resolution graphics (vertical 72 dots/inch,
horizontal 82 dots/inch)
— 6 or 8 lines per inch paper feed
— Full forms control
All the above list and others are standard at no additional cost.
Whether it is for your Superbrain business system or any other computer
with RS232 or Centronics interfaces you cannot find a better printer.
Supplied ex stock for the amazing price of £399 plus VAT and P & P
S.D.M. COMPUTER SERVICES
BROADWAY, BEBINGTON, WIRRAL,
MERSEYSIDE L63 5ND. Tel: 051-608 9366
• Circle No. 132
KSTYUST
a high quality daisywheel printer
• V24/RS232 interface
► Proportional spacing
-►Bidirectional/ logic seeking
>Wide range of type styles and international languages
Trade/OEM Discounts available
Write or call for further information:
Butel-Comco Limited, Garrick Industrial Centre, Garrick Road, London NW9 6AQ. Telephoned -202 0262.
34
Technology for business
• Circle No. 133
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
COMMODORE
DATALECT
ALL-ROUND
COMPUTER
PACKAGES
No. 1 best seller in the U.K. Tackles
your bookeeping, stock control and
word processing. This system is
reliable and superb value.
APPLE
One of the most versatile on the market.
Expandability up to 48 kbytes of user
memory, supported by a large range
of programs and peripherals.
HEWLETT
PACKARD
A portable (only 20 lbs) specialist
computer with a fully integrated
keyboard, display and printer.
ACT 800 series
A large microcomputer system
supported by an excellent range of
programs. Expandable to multitasking
up to 20 meg.
<8> Registered trademarks of Commodore,
Apple Inc., Hewlett Packard, ACT.
.because who else provides all
this— at a price you can afford
We offer you a choice of these budget priced,
easy to operate microcomputers. Starting in
price from an amazing £200 for a computer,
£1 ,500 for a complete system. All come with
a versatile range of programs to meet todays
modern business needs.
Try one out for yourself
If you’re not sure how a microcomputer can
help, call in at our WOKING or CROYDON
SHOWROOMS.
Keeping you going
Fast reliable SERVICE if you’re based in
London and the South.
Buying your system
Attractive terms, leasing and the best deals
available in London and the South.
Remember, when you buy from Datalect
you’re getting 10 yrs EXPERTISE, SERVICE,
ADVICE and TRAINING and the best
after-sales care.
SHOWROOMS:
CROYDON. 7, St.Georges Walk, Croydon, Surrey.
Tel: 01-680 3581
WOKING. 32, Chertsey Road, Woking, Surrey.
Tel: 04862 63901
THESES
Please send me
details and price list.
THEd
DATALECT
COMPUTERS
Your computer company for London and the South
I Company.
i
i
i
Position.
Address _
.Post Code.
DATALECT Computers.
Dept. PC, 33/35 Portugal Rd., Woking, Surrey GU21 5J 1
• Circle No. 134
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
35
A visit to Microsystems '82 is a unique
opportunity to examine and discuss a
completely comprehensive range ot
microprocessors, peripherals, memory
products and small business systems, together
with software programs and products.
As a user, specifier or buyer of
microelectronic products, Microsystems '82 is
an important date in your diary.
Admission to the exhibition is by business
registration and costs just £100 at the door.
West Centre Hotel
Lillie Road, London
SW6
VISIT
WORTH YOUR
WHILE
Wednesday, February 24: 9.30 — 6.00
Thursday, February 25: 9.30 - 6.00
Friday, February 26: 9.30 - 6.00
For more information, telephone or write to:
The Exhibition Manager, Microsystems '82,
IPC Exhibitions Ltd, Surrey House, 1 Throwley Way,
Sutton, Surrey SMI 4QQ. Tel: 01 643 8040
MARK YOUR DIARY NOW!
36
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
8ARCLAYCARD
• Circle No. 136
Combine accurate flight characteristics with the best in animation graphics
and you’ll have SubLOGIC’s
T80-FS1 Flight Simulator
fortheTRS‘80
SubLOGIC s T80-FS1 is the smooth, realistic
simulator that gives you a real-time, 3-D,
out-of-the-cockpit view of flight.
Thanks to fast animation and accurate repre-
sentation of flight, the non-pilot can now learn
basic flight control, including take-offs and
landings! And experienced pilots will recog-
nize how thoroughly they can explore the
aircraft s characteristics.
Once you ve acquired flight proficiency,
you can engage in the exciting British Ace
3-D Aerial Battle Game included in the
package. Destroy the enemy's fuel depot
while evading enemy fighters.
Computer and aviation experts call the
T80-FS1 a marvel of modern technology.
You'll simply call it fantastic!
Special Features:
• 3 frame-per-second flicker free
animation
• Maximum transfer keyboard input
• Constant feedback cassette loader
Hardware Requirements:
• Radio Shack TRS-80, Level 1 or 2
• 16K memory
• Nothing else!
INCLUDING VAT POST &
PACKING. SEND £1.00 FOR
DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUE OF
OVER 200 TRS-80 PROGRAMS.
MICROCOMPUTER
APPLICATIONS
42A CHURCH STREET,
CAVERSHAM, READING,
RG4 8AU, ENGLAND.
TEL: (0734) 470425
Eusiiass [jcmpulsr Ssntrs
Businessmen!
A more efficient stock control
* faster invoicing
* instant Debtors list
* faster statements
means more profits with Business
Computer Centre Package
* Printer
* Computer
* Software — one package under
£5,500
Business Computer Centre 26 Eastcastle Street,
London, WIN 7PB (near Bourne’s Oxford Street)
Fact! BCC offers unrivalled HELP
to 1st time computer BUYERS
Fact! The BCC package is
designed by businessmen for
businessmen
Fact! BCC offers you a highly
qualified staff to answer all your
queries immediately — No cowboys.
Fact! BCC arranges a Service
Contract to guarantee continuous
computer output.
Fact! The BCC Software program
is written in CIS COBOL the
business language.
Fact! Leasing and HP arranged.
SUPERBRAIN: DQD
£2800
PRINTER: ORE 8820
£1300
FLOWRITER
£1800
MEDIA: DYSAN 204 2D (S«>l of 10)
£45
SOFTWARE: WORDSTAR-MERG
£325
DATA STAR
£150
SUPERSORT 1
£125
INCOMPLETE RECORDS
£750
D BASE II
£385
INTEGRATED A C's PACKAGE
£1250
SUPERCALC (CP/M VISICAL)
£195
Now available: Televideo and Digico.
For discussion and
demonstrations
Tel: (01) 580 4273
Now open
26 Eastcastle St
London, VV1
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
37
The unique Computer
Supermarket brings you
computer hardware at
cash-and-carry prices
SHARP, COMMODORE, TEXAS, RICOH, ATARI and TANGERINE EQUIPMENT
Fully tested before despatch, or collection complete with instruction manuals, tapes, fitted 13 amp plugs
SHARP EQUIPMENT
Model User Ram
MZ80K 48K Ram
exc VAT inc VAT
346.96 399.00
589.00 677.35
385.00 442.75
MZ80FD Floppy Disc
MZ80P Printer
MZ801/0 Input/Output Unit 87.00 100.05
MZ80B 64K Ram 1095.00 1259.25
FREE LEDGER & STOCK CONTROL PROGRAM WITH
EVERY COMPLETE SHARP SYSTEM, i.e. 48K Sharp,
Twin Floppy Disc, Printer & I/O Unit.
COMMODORE EQUIPMENT
Model User Ram exc VAT inc VAT
4016 40 Col. PET
16K Mem 445.00
40 Col PET
32K Mem 560.00
80 Col. PET
32K Mem 755.00
347K Disk 560.00
1 M Byte Disk 755.00
Printer 350.00
Printer 975.00
Printer 835.00
Printer 740.00
Personal
Computer 164.35
Cassette Deck 34.35
Printer 175.00
VIC 1011 A RS232 Interface
Cartridge 28.00
16K ROM Emulator 190.00
3K RAM Cartridge 24.50
8K RAM Cartridge 34.50
16KRAMCartndge 56.00
Programmers Aid 26.25
VIC 1 21 1 M Super Expander Hi
Res. Cartridge
VIC 1213 Machine Code
Monitor Cartridge 26.25
VIC Expansion Unit 78.00
Lid for above expansion unit 6.95
4032
8032
4040
8050
4022
8024
8026
8027
VIC 20
VIC/C2N
VIC 1515
VIC 1801
VIC 1210
VIC 11 10
VIC 1 1 1 1
VIC 1212
511.75
644.00
868.25
644.00
868.25
402.50
1121.25
960.25
851.00
189.00
39.50
201.25
32.20
218.50
28.18
39.68
64.40
30.19
26.25 30.19
30.19
89.17
7.99
RICOH
RP1600 Daisywheel Printer
PET Interface 1200.00 1380.00
TEXAS EQUIPMENT
T 1-99/4 260.00 299.00
Full range of peripherals available
ATARI EQUIPMENT
Atari 400 16K 300.00 345.00
Atari 800 16K 560.87 645.00
Full range of peripherals available
TANGERINE EQUIPMENT
Micro T antel Prestel Adaptor 1 35.00 1 55.25
Full colour output. Connects to any TV Full British Telecom approval
Requires British Telecom 96A jack-plug Gives access to massive
home computer base information from Mortgages to Theatres
Stocks to Holidays
Telephone us for further information on ease of installation
Prices are valid only for the cover date
month of this maga2ine
• • •
► • • • .
• • ••••*
• •
• ••••« ••••• ••
• • • • •
• • • • •
• •••■
: •
• •• •
Insured shipment arranged anywhere in
UK for an additional £14.37 (inc. VAT). VIC,
Atari and Texas shipped by insured post
for £3.50 inc. VAT.
Commodore Approved Distributor
Registered Sharp, Atari and Texas Dealer
All goods sold with full manufacturer's warranty and subiect
to conditions of sale (available on request)
ALL MACHINES ARE FULL UK STANDARD
!••••••••••• •«
• ••• •
• •
• •
• •
• • _
• •••• ••••*
• • •
• • •
• •
, • •••••••••
• • •* *
• • • •
• • •• ••••
COMPUTER SUPERMARKET LTD (An associate company of HB Computers Ltd)
3rd Floor, Douglas House. Queens Square, Corby, Northamptonshire.
Telephone 05366 61587/8 and 62571 Telex COMPSU 341543/4 Prestel No. 400400
To Computer Supermarket Ltd . 3rd Floor. Douglas House.
Queens Square. Corby. Northamptonsnire
Please send me
Model No
Price
Shipment
Total
I enclose my cheque for £
Or debit my Access Barclaycard
Diners Cara American Express No
Info only ( S)
(Cardholders may telephone orders to 05366 61 587/8 and 62571
Signature
Name
Address __
(Block capitals please i
Your remittance should Do made payable to Computer Supermarket
Reader s Account . and shal; remain your money until the goods have
been despatched to you at the address specified
Ail goods offered are subiect to Computer Supermarket conditions
of sale, copies available on request Reg m England No 2646589
Prestel subscribers may order through the Prestel service
Directory No. 400400
PC
• Circle No. 137
38
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
SUPERB"
MW IN the
amUEST
MANY MORE
PAYROLL
STOCK
ACCOUNTS
o
0
TOTALLY INTEGRATED MSL ACCOUNTS SYSTEM
PROFESSIONAL SERVICE & SUPPORT
FOR QUOTATIONS OR FURTHER DETAILS CONTACT
EASTFERN LIMITED
> • 1 -u A kinn a n * n a nr \l/rCTALI Cl IDCD M ADC A V/OKJ TPI ' DQ3d-41 8346
microwar
London Ltd.
•V/x* 1 1 cl microware
London Ltd.
SUPRBRAIN
Models DD.QD.DT HD. 64K
from 320K to 6Mb
at Low Low prices from £1599.00
True decenders. Graphics.
Parallel port for printers &
Hard Disk also available.
DISK
STORAGE
File and protect your disks
40 disk system at £14.95
80 disk system at £19.95
5.25" & 8" available
Carrying handle & security lock
Indexing systems from £1.50
DRIVES
Double density, single & double sided
drives with power supply & enclosure
5.25" single unit at £175.00
5.25" dual unit at £295.00
double tracking. 5 & 10 Mbyte Hard Disks
& 8" Drives available at Low Low prices.
SOFTWARE
WORDSTAR at £195.00
Mail Merge. Data Star. Data Base.
Solicitors' accounts.
Accounting packages.
(Sales. Nominal purchases.
Payrole. Stock control. VAT reports.)
Any popular software supplied.
LOW LOW
LOW PRICES
open 7 days
Mail Order
Dealers enquiries Welcomed.
PHONE 01-346 8452
ACCESSORIES
For Printers
Thimbles, Daisy Wheels.
Multi-coloured Ribbons,
at Low Low Low Prices.
For most models.
Also Listing Paper.
■Microware
Terms: P&P £1.00 media.
Please add 15% VAT to total payment.
(London) Ltd.. 5 Western Court. Huntly Drive. London N3
PRINTERS
MX 80 & 100s from £275.00
NFC TFC
& OLYMPIA SCRIPT A
Letter quality printers From £645.00
Full range available
PROTECT
And enhance your
MICROS
PRINTERS
V.D.U.s
With Microware &
Cover Craft Dust Covers from £6.95
MEMOREX
DISKS
5.25" Single sided single density £1.59 each
5.25" Double sided double density £1.99 each
8" and Full range available
- including WABASH & DYSAN
NX-
• Circle No. 139
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
39
%
Cl>0 TBAMNG for coW' pUTER us «Vf
flUy
W C<
-Ditftus
courses
Which would you like to attend?
8
Digitus is running a number of courses to train users and potential users in the basic skills of micro-
computing. Conducted at our Central London Workshop, the courses provide hands-on experience
of microcomputers, demonstrations of working systems and tutorials on your particular needs.
/C.
INTRODUCTION
TO
MICROCOMPUTERS
One day's concentrated information on
microcomputing aimed at the potential
user in small and large organisations. A
practical course which includes
business applications of micros,
guidelines on selecting microcomputer
systems and an introduction to
programming.
WORDSTAR
WORDPROCESSING
A one day course for people who want
to learn the fundamentals of
wordprocessing. Uses the popular
Wordstar wordprocessing package
available on most CP/M micros and
teaches by hands-on use.
MICRO-PRO
SOFTWARE
TOOLS
FUNDAMENTALS
OF PROGRAMMING
IN BASIC
A two day course designed to teach
the first principals of programming in
BASIC. Aimed at those with some
understanding of micros who want to
learn how to instruct their computer to
perform tasks.
DATASTAR
INFORMATION
MANAGEMENT
The DataStar data entry, retrieval and
management system is a powerful aid
which enables the educated user and
computer professional to build inform
ation systems economically and rapidly.
In addition to Wordstar, Micro-Pro Inc
have produced a variety of aids to
improve productivity in offices and
systems departments. This one day
course includes: Mail-Merge linked to
Wordstar • Supersort sorting utility •
CalcStar rows and columns
manipulation • DataStar information
manager • harnessing the 'Star'
products together.
All courses provide access to an extensive range of
micro hardware, software and expertise.
Note Wordstar and DataStar are registered trademarks of
Micro-Pro Inc
Booking Form (Please complete in BLOCK capitals)
To Digitus Ltd, 10-14 Bedford Street. London WC2E 9 HE. Tel 01-3796968
□ P lease send me further information □ Reserve places as follows
Name of delegate
Name of delegate Date
Name of delegate Date
Courses/dates
A two day course for those who have
learned Basic from hands-on
experience and want to brush up their
BASIC techniques and learn some
timesaving software tools.
Draining for Computer Professionals
Course in. Micro Technology for Management •
Local Area Networks • Micros for Computer
Professionals.
Courses are run at the Workshop or on site.
Telephone or write for details.
Micro Technology Workshop Set in
8,500 sq.ft in Central London, the Workshop is a
few minutes from Covent Garden. Trafalgar
Square, Charing Cross. Embankment and
Waterloo stations. Specialist areas include:
Personal Computers. Technical Systems.
Business Systems. 16 bit and Local Network
Systems. Bookstore and Training Rooms
Booking and Fees The fee for all courses is
E80 per day plus VAT payable 14 days prior to
starting date.
Introduction to Microcomputers
□ Feb 8
□ Apr 19
Fundamentals of Programming in Basic D Feb 9/10
□ Apr 20/21
Oi{
Situs
Improve your Basic
□ Feb 11/12
□ Apr 22/23
Wordstar Wordprocessing
□ Feb 23
□ May 1 1
f
Micro-Pro Software Tools
□ Feb 24
□ May 12
V
J
DataStar Information Management
□ Feb 25
□ May 13
Company/address
Name Position .
Signature r e |.No. ...
PRC
40
• Circle No. 140
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
**" Editorial ——
You buy 16 bits — what
do you get?
ever since the creation of the universe — the micro-universe,
that is — we have known very well how a computer should he
made. You take a processor — Z-80 or 6502, according to
choice — you string it to 64K of memory and tack on some
frills.
“64K” has become a magic number: we think of it as very big if
we have small machines, or very small if we have big pro-
grams. Like it or hate it, we were bound by that 64K as the
edge to our universe.
Yet, quite recently that number has been wobbling, shaking and
dissolving like a mirage. Bv a little trickery, you can arrange
the memory in banks of 64K each and make the processor
switch between them. It is as if you had a postman who just
worked in one street using the numbers of the houses. You
put him in the next street along and he rushes about quite
happily picking up a letter at number 386, delivering it to
number 24 without noticing that quite different people live at
those numbers now.
The other way to get more RAM is to move to a bigger
processor. The newish 16-bit devices can cope with at least
16 million addresses. They can play in a memory field that is
as big as you can afford. The drawback is that because the
processors are so complicated inside, they are very hard to
make and are therefore expensive. An 8086, for instance,
costs upwards of £100 — a Z-80 costs £5 — and the bits that
fill in round it are dear in proportion.
What, then is going on? The short answer is that RAM, the way
everyone predicted, is daily getting cheaper. When this
magazine started, in May 1978, a 16K x 1 RAM chip cost
£11. Today you can buy the same thing for £1 . Admittedly a
single chip is not much use: you have to have them made up
into a board with buses, refresh and power. But even so, you
would not expect to pay more than £200 for an extra 64K
today.
But what is that to the innocent bystander? Even if he does
manage to stay with us, he is unlikely to care a toot whether
his machine has one K or 10,000. The great mass of micro
users will not write programs, and the difference is academic
to them in practice. Extra memory will not be an important
selling feature — not really important in the way that the
colour of the box and the amount of spaghetti hanging out the
back are important — until it is reflected in the perform-
ance of software packages, and until the paying customer
can distinguish the virtues of one package from another.
Which he cannot as yet.
So why all the fuss? One may discern two reasons: one honour-
able, one practical. Firstly, there is no denying that hardware
is increasing in power and decreasing in cost and there is the
natural desire to bring these advantages to the people.
Secondly, there is the siren song of the already large micro
market and its gigantic promise of future wealth. At the
moment it is dominated by Commodore and Apple — to get a
foothold, the newcomer has to offer something much better
than these two. The obviously much better thing is the 1 6-bit
machine or the supercharged eight-bit.
' The snag to this is that the punter does not yet exploit a fraction
of the capacities of the standard eight-bit machine. It is
useless to tell him that the new super-wonders will do much
more because he does not even know what to do with what he
has got.
This puts the innovative entrepreneur in a bit of a bind. It was
illustrated rather prettily by a recent conversation with
Chuck Peddle, an amiable American gentleman whose claim
to fame is that he designed the Pet. Having apparently fallen
out with Commodore he is now offering a machine called the
Sirius 1 which will be sold here by ACT.
The Sirius 1 is, even to the jaundiced editorial eye which is less
than thrilled by American gear, a handsome machine. It has a
16-bit processor, comes with 128K of RAM as standard and
more can be added at low prices. It has a very high-resolution
screen with some clever software controls — for instance, you
can redesign the shape of the letters and numbers it prints as
you go along. It can load eight different typefaces and use
them completely intermingled. You can record voice mess-
ages on a program disc and make it bark orders at the
unsuspecting user. And all this for £2,300.
It seems verv interesting, but a good way beyond most users*
actual needs. Why bother?
Pcddle’s answer is that he proposes to give the programmer a
machine so flexible and so powerful that he will spurn all
others. Having written his applications software for the
Sirius, the customer will have to buy the machine in order to
get it to work as wonderfully as he possibly can.
It all seems a bit roundabout. People buy a particular computer
because the shop near them sells it, or they know someone
who has one. Technical excellence hardly comes into it.
The real reasons look much more commercial, and reminiscent
of the aggravation we have recently seen in the video-
recording market. It seems a bit like a solution looking
anxiously for problems. If the punter has no problems, he
damn well ought to get some.
Our own view is that people will not discard existing eight-bit
machines, or stop buying them through the now well-devel-
oped channels, until something at least 10 times more power-
ful is available. And this does not just mean more powerful
hardware, but software to exploit the machine's power, and
storage to complement both.
We are talking about a processor with the power of a main-
frame, memory of the order ot a megabyte and 100MB at
least of back-up. And all this on your desk at the price of an
Apple today.
Technically this is not unreasonable. It could be around in
prototype in a year to 1 8 months. But it presents the user with
a whole new set of problems. This kind of machine is not just
an accessory. It is capable of holding and processing all the
records of a large business. Setting it to work properly will
present all the well-known problems of installing a main-
frame. It is not something you do overnight. But, because the
hardware will cost so little in proportion to what it can do,
potential users may well be very puzzled how to cope with it.
To begin with, does it make sense to spend tens of thousands
of pounds keying all your records into a machine that costs no
more than an electric typewriter?
Quite obviously, when hardware costs are so low and capacity is
so high, what will constrain growth will be people's attitudes.
Even if computing power is as cheap as water, people are not
going to go out of their depth until they can swim. And
training the millions of people who will have to be able to
swim will take decades rather than years.
The conclusion of this argument is that technical innovation,
while amusing for the people doing it, is not going to be
crucial in getting a share of the micro market. It is turning
rapidly into an ordinary consumer-durable business in which,
sadly, the appearance of the goods, the shops they are sold in
and the quality of the leatherette on the disc drives are the
things that matter. Q |
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
41
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• Circle No. 141
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
Feedback
Our Feedback columns offer readers the opportunity of bringing their computing
experience and problems to the attention of others, as well as to seek our advice or
to make suggestions, which we are always happy to receive. Make sure you use
Feedback — it is your chance to keep in touch.
Comal confusion
comal may indeed be a better language
than Basic. It seems that the closed proce-
dure is a more primitive mechanism than
the scoping rules of Pascal, but better
than nothing.
Unfortunately the article on closed
procedures in Comal-80 — Practical
Computing , November 1981 — was mar-
red by numerous errors in the example.
These do not detract from its use as an
illustration of the flavour of the language,
but they might confuse someone who tries
to follow the details.
The errors I found are:
• Lines 8024 to the end of column 1 should be
deleted as they are a garbled repetition of
column 2.
• Line 8167 should be inserted, reading
IF R(-1)<0 THEN R(-1)+0
otherwise a constant, when differentiated,
will yield order = -1.
• Line 8174 should read
DGR: = NUMERA(-I) + DENOM(-1)-1
Add, Sub procedures should have warn-
ings that the arguments must be the same
length. This restriction can be avoided, and
the procedures greatly simplified, by recod-
ing as:
PROCEDURE ADD(REF A(),REF BQ.REF
R()) CLOSED
EXEC ASGN( A,R)
FOR I: = 0 TO B(-1) DO
R(l): + B(l)
NEXT I
IF B(-1) >A(— 1 ) THEN R(-1): = B(-1)
ENDPROC ADD
• Line 8192 should read EXEC ASGN
(R2.DENOM). As the assignment stands it
sets the original denominator as the answer.
The correct answer for the denominator
should be:
Degree = 8
16 48 -20 -60 45 -102 79 -30 25
Derivative = 0.0968858
Chris Lusby Taylor,
Intel International,
Paris.
Notes on Piccolo
readers of Bill Bennett’s review of the
Piccolo — Practical Computing ,
December 1981 — can be reassured that
English versions of Comal are now
available along with UCSD Pascal and
CP/M.
The reviewer probably did not have
time to investigate the direct-access tiles
but the combination of these with Comal
enables clarity and control to be main-
tained in more complex situations. For
example, we have just completed an
inventory package with two major and 1 9
subsidiary files. It is a 20K package of
clear, readable programs made possible
by the combination of a sensible hard-
ware configuration and good modern
systems software.
I would not have attempted it in
unstructured Basic, though I realise that it
can be done. Comal provides a more
pleasant approach for those who are only
moderately capable.
Roy Atherton,
Bulmershe College of Higher Education,
Reading,
Berkshire.
Names for Life
IN 6502 SPECIAL — Practical Computing ,
December 1981 — Simon Cogle men-
tions the pattern of five cells in the Game
of Life, which he calls “The Spinner”.
This pattern has been known for many
years and was christened “The Glider” by
Conway’s Cambridge group. There is also
a “Glider Gun” which fires off a glider
every 30 generations.
This rediscovery has given me the idea
that it might be worth trying to establish
an index of known patterns with interest-
ing developments. It would save a lot of
duplication of effort among the many
people who have discovered the fascina-
tion of this game.
G ,1 Suggett,
Chichester,
West Sussex.
Uncritical comments
I read the review of the Silicon Office in
the November issue of Practical Comput-
ing, with some surprise. While it is clear
that there is much of great value in this
software — and indeed all the reports of it
are very good — the review was, to say the
least, rather uncritical. I was particularly
concerned about the comments by Mike
McDonald that Silicon Office contains
“the first true database-management
system we have encountered on a micro
whereby up to six files may be open and
accessed simultaneously during a run”. 1
suspect that this statement may have
caused some surprise to the many com-
panies who already market packages
which meet this description — not so
much because the reviewer has not come
across them, but more because he has
promoted a simple file-handling system
to a database-management system.
Among the identifying features norm-
ally put forward for a DBMS, one ol the
most significant is the ability to link dif-
ferent files together logically, in a hier-
archical network or relational structure.
Mike McDonald is correct in his implica-
tion that this is very rarely encountered
on a micro — although there are except-
ions such as MDBS, a lull network
DBMS running under CP/M. However,
nowhere in his review is there anything to
suggest that the Silicon Office contains a
genuine DBMS.
Attention could easily be diverted from
the positive aspects of the Silicon Office
by its failure to live up to the claims made
for it - — a rave review is not always a good
thing. It is unfortunate to see your own
software consultant fuelling the many
misconceptions and mysteries which still
surround the concept of a DBMS.
Graham Seel,
Gillingham,
Kent.
Apple Pascal
I have recently installed a Z-80 Softcard.
The Basic is excellent, and in many ways
an improvement on Applesoft. However
much of it is nullified by the major defects
of the commands Edit and Renum. Both
lead one to suspect that the designers
have shares in new keyboards and pro-
grammers’ overtime.
The Renum command does not permit
overlaps of other lines but, far worse,
does not allow small blocks of lines to be
renumbered, within themselves, to insert
a few extra lines. Using Renum com-
pletely wrecks any systematic program
layout and its relationship to document-
ation.
Editing in Applesoft is messy but com-
pletely flexible. It is difficult to find an
editing problem that cannot be solved
with a minimum of key operations. Most
insertions are easy with the open format
of listed lines, and done at high speed.
Edit, on the other hand, is highly frus-
trating. The unedited line is invisible so
you have to guess or pre-List on the line
above. The listing is only a partial help —
especially for long lines — as edited lines
do not match and eye movements are
uncoordinated. The end result is many
more keystrokes and much wasted time.
The worst feature of Edit is its inability
to access the line number. Lines are often
found to be wrongly placed. Though a
simple renumber would quickly correct
this, the lines must be completely retyped
with a risk of further errors.
Complex lines often repeat during a
program, in whole or in part, Applesoft
permits one line to be duplicated end-
lessly anywhere in the program with a
minimum risk of mistakes and key-
strokes. Complex amendments can be
made by block duplication, listing and
cursor editing.
Edit permits none of these. Editing
errors, followed by a Return often need a
(continued on page 45)
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
43
MASSIVE DATA STORAGE
FROM HARD DISK
Massive storage capability is available with the
8in. Winchester Micropolis 7MB-35B Hard Disk
from £3500 including a controller to connect
directly to your Superbrain.
12 month warranty
included in price.
WORDPROCESSING
SYSTEMS A complete wordprocessing
system including ‘Word Star’ and ‘Mailmerge’,
standard Superbrain, Diablo 630 printer, training
and up to a day’s installation for around £3850.
Software Options: we market a full supporting
range of standard languages, including. BASIC
@ £175, FORTRAN @ £225. PASCAL @ £225.
and CIS COBOL @ £425 We have a growing
and comprehensive library of software
programmes available
Incomplete Records for Practising
Accountants @£750
Graphics -Hardware @£435 with Software
from £80
Integrated Accounting System - Stock Control
@ £350. Order Entry and Invoicing @ £350.
Sales Ledger @ £450. Purchase Ledger @
£450. General/Nominal @ £400. Name &
Address @ £250. Complete Package so far
@£1650 plus Payroll @£500
Financial Modelling - T/Maker @ £155 and
Micromodeller @ £645
Data Base Management -DMS @ £400
Word Processing - Wordstar @ £250 and
Mailmerge @£75
Also available - Form Creation. Debugging etc
Alternatively we will design and implement
software packages to suit your specific needs
MICROS LIMITED
KGB Micros Ltd., 14 Windsor Road, Slough, Berks. SL1 2EJ Tel: Slough 38581
Prices exclude V A I andaresuPiecnollucluat'On please phone for an uptotheminule quote
• Circle No. 142
44
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
(continued from page 43)
retype instead of a screen copy. The need
tor spaces around Basic commands is
highly irritating and easily forgotten.
Apart from wasting time it wastes
memory too and perhaps accounts for the
fact that MBasic runs 50 percent slower
than Applesoft.
Are there any patches to eliminate
these design weaknesses or is Microsoft
proposing to issue amended discs?
Special editing programs are not the
solution. They waste even more time.
R G Si Ison,
Tring,
Hertfordshire.
Improving Petpro
there is a small, but important amend-
ment which should be made to the Petpro
program in the December 1981 issue. It
greatly improves the operation of the
“squeeze” facility in rare, though signifi-
cant cases. Only two lines are affected
Line 108 should read
NEXT: IFK=A-W+4THENB = K : GOTOIIO
The second part of line 110, beginning
IFMIDS . . . should be changed to
B=B+(MID$(E$,B,1) <> “(single space)")-
(MID$(E$,B,2)= “(two spaces)”)
Ian Birnbaum,
Needingworth,
Cambridgeshire.
Apple graphics
I would like to congratulate Practical
Computing on the first in the series on
Apple Graphics in the November, 1981
issue. It has explained and made clear
many points which I formerly only hazily
grasped.
There are, however, two problems with
the program Type-a-Graphic/Hires as
listed, both of which concern the circle-
drawing routine.
In lines 56 10 to 5670 the Xs and Ysare
mixed up. As coded, it plots two sets of
two quarter circles, centred on X, Y and
Y, X.
If an error is encountered in drawing
the circle because the plot area is
exceeded, then on return to line 5500 for
the final time, Z = 80. the Return state-
ment causes a Return without Gosub
error. To avoid it, the Gosub in line 5410
can be replaced by a Goto, as can the
Return in line 5500. The 5460 subroutine
is not accessed from elsewhere in the
program, so this is not illogical.
The corrected code is shown on the
listing.
V Gardiner,
Leicester.
Uncivilised and chauvinist
IT SEEMS that theories of racial superiority
are alive and well within the pages ol
Practical Computing , of all places. The
June 1981 editorial was blatantly anti-
American and chauvinistic in the
extreme, with a strong taste of sour
grapes.
Then again in July, what do we find:
“While the new land may be very good at
making hardware it needs a more civilised
spirit to breathe life into it“, etc, etc.
Such a mentality I would call anything
but civilised, and totally unbecoming of a
national computer magazine. I suggest
the author of such cultural claptrap get
back to the details of microcomputing, or
give the job to someone who can.
J L Schiff,
Auckland,
New Zealand.
• In a perfect world there would be no
need or justification for chauvinism.
Unhappily this is not the world we live in.
If we adopt a chauvinistic tone, it is to try
to combat the flood of American equip-
ment and ideas which are almost dumped
on our market.
Since the war we have seen American
efforts to obliterate British industries,
particularly in book-publishing, film-
making aerospace and computing. Their
huge native markets and high standard of
living and use of a version of English can
only be countered by tenacity and enthus-
iasm here. We regard it as part of our job to
try to enthuse British computer manufac-
turers and software authors.
I)r Schiff may feel that we should lie
down under the onslaught — many here
would disagree with him.
Incompatible systems
A J weeks of Bedford — Feedback,
November 1981 — is mixing up his Basic
and Pascal systems, which are not com-
patible, and which do not use the same
operating environment. He should not
feel put-out. however, since many so-
called Apple dealers do not know the
difference either.
The Pascal system is totally divorced
from the Basic system. Since the Pascal
source code and the P-code are intended
to be portable to different computers,
such things as printer driver routines are
totally transparent to the user. Under
normal circumstances it is not necessary
to produce special printer driver routines
in Pascal. In fact, Apple Pascal is quite
happy with a serial card or a parallel card
or a communications card, providing it is
in slot 1. Moreover, any machine-code
routine used to drive the comms card is
then redundant.
I presume that Mr Weeks has a home-
made card, or something similar, that
requires a separate patch for line feeds
and character counts. Unfortunately
there is no mechanism in the Pascal
system to put the printer card in any other
slot, since all other slots are pre-allocatcd
in the system.
We need to know whether the Pascal P-
code routines use the same output, input
or screen hooks as the Basic monitor. To
do what Mr Weeks would like to do would
imply modifying the operating system as
is commonly done, for example, to obtain
lower-case characters with the Paymar
character generator. Presumably a dis-
assembly of the operating system would
enable you to change the printer output
from slot 1 to some other slot. In a
manner similar to the lower-case mod,
you could presumably introduce a sub-
routine call to the printer driver routine,
carefully bypassing the standard printer
driver routines.
I would recommend to Mr Weeks that
he invests in a standard Apple parallel
card, which will be cheaper and quicker
than messing about with machine-code
routines.
K. D. Howton,
Birkdale,
Merseyside. [J]
Type-a-Graphics/Hires amendments.
5400
IF '= "P' then GOSUB 5630: 30SUS 5720: HPLQT TO X/V:
GOTO 5250
5410
l P = “R" THEN GOTO 5460: F.Er DF.P * L-.RllE
5420i
IF = "S" THEN GOTO 3000: PEN FINISH PLOTTING
5440
tp = “H 1 THEN P*>E - 16303/0: POKE - 16302/0: POKE
- 16293/U:
GOTO 5350: REN TEXT/ ALL/ F*2
5450
GOTO 5270
5460
HOME : UThE: 22: PRINT "ENTER RADIUS OF CIRCLET 1-140}"
5470
INPUT "THEN PRESS 'RETURN' . ft = ' * ft
5480
IF ft ■: 1 OR ft • 140 THEN GOTO 5460
5490 :
•a = X: VI = V:2 * - 1
5500 Z = Z 1 : IF Z = So THEN X = XI sV = Vl: POKE 216/0: GOTO
5230
5510 :
- p ♦ SIN ( Z 190): V2 - ft - COS I 100/
5520
0NERF: GOT 0 5540
SF30
HPL0T XI + X2/V1 - V2
5540
ONERR GOTO 5560
SSSfi
HP lot XI - X2/V1 - V2
5560
ONERR GOTO 5580
5570
HPL0T XI - X2/V1 - Y2
5530
ONERR GOTO 5600
5530
HPL0T XI - X2/V1 - V2
5600
ONERR GO T 0 5620
5610
HPL0T XI + Y2/Y1 + X2
5620
ONERR GOTO 5640
5630
HPlOT XI - V2/V1 + X2
5840
ONERR GOTO 5660
5650
HPLOT Xl + V2/V1 - X2
5660
ONERR GOTO 5500
5670
HPLOT XI - V2/V1 - X2
5680
GOTO 5500
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
45
Pet series to sample
the Corvus benefits
THE FULL range of Commo-
dore microcomputers can now
take advantage of the
extended Corvus Constella-
tion hard-disc system. Inter-
faces allow the Pet to operate
in a full microcomputer
networking environment with
up to 64 stations sharing the
The Corvus hard disc.
same central hard disc of 5, 1 0,
or 2()Mbytes.
The Constellation, as its
name suggests, is based on the
star configuration of a central
Corvus hard disc connected to
both microcomputers and
peripherals. Immediate access
to the mass-storage medium is
possible with no interference
from other users.
The data-transfer rate is an
impressive 60Kbytes per
second and therefore will
endow microcomputers users
with all the advantages of
mainframe networks without
the associated costs.
There are two types of inter-
face available, both developed
by Small Systems Engineering.
The first is called Hardbox and
allows continued use of the
PetDOS operating system. Up
to four Corvus hard discs can
Five boards that add
to Apple’s attractions
U-TIM is just one of five new
British-made boards for the
Apple. It is capable of record
ing intervals of between 1ms.
and one hour, with an accuracy
of 1 ms. The card is accessed by
Peeking and Poking and is sup-
plied with sample Basic pro-
grams and a machine-code
routine to handle interrupts.
U-Term. another of the
latest releases, is an 80-column
upper- and lower-case display
board for the Apple II. It is
compatible with Basic, Pascal
and CP/M, enabling software
packages such as WordStar to
be run on the Apple.
Eight serial ports of the RS-
232 type are provided by the
U-Port board. Each port is
individually addressable and
the baud rates can be set
between 150 and 19,200. U-
Ext is simply a slot extender
designed to aid trouble-shoot-
ing and board development
and interfaces the Apple com-
puter with any digital panel
meter having a BCD —
binary-coded decimal — out-
put.
All the boards are available
from U- Microcomputers and
the dealer network. U- Micro-
computers can be found at the
Winstanley Industrial Estate.
Long Lane, Warrington, Che-
shire WA2 8PR. Telephone:
0925-54117. Q
40
EG 302 3
<?
4 ^
0
be controlled by the Hardbox
giving the Pet access to a very
large amount of on-line stor-
age — massive databases can
be created. The second inter-
face is called the Softbox and
allows Pet/Corvus networks to
operate under the popular
CP/M operating system.
Transferring Pet software to
the hard disc should not prove
difficult. Nevertheless Keen
Computers, the distributor, is
forming a full consultancy ser-
vice for both users and dealers.
For further information con-
tact Keen Computers Ltd, 5
Giltspur Street, London EC1
Telephone: 01-248 7307. Q
Micro event
of the year
make A NOTE in your diary
now — computerised or other-
wise — to visit the first Com-
puter Fair to be held at Earls
Court. London on April 23.
24, and 25. The list of exhibi-
tors at the show, which is spon-
sored jointly by Practical
Computing and Your Com-
puter , is impressive. Events
planned for what will be the
microcomputer event of the
year include the British finals
of the European Micromouse
competition, under Practical
Computing sponsorship.
The exhibition has been
timed to coincide with the
Government's Information
Technology year, and it will
follow hard on the heels of the
BBC microcomputer series. C
VisiFile follows in
the VisiCalc tradition
visifile is the latest product
from Personal Software, the
originators of the world’s best
selling program VisiCalc. It is a
file- m a n age ment sy s t e m
which can handle record filing,
searching, sorting, report and
mail-label printing.
Personal Software's VisiFiJe
enables a wide variety of
records to be stored, sorted or
searched in any one of a
number of formats. Printing.
Tandy owners can now use
the new Video Genie
expander box. The box is an
updated version of the
original expander which can
be used with the Video
Genie, the Genie II, and the
Tandy model I. The
functions of the device are:
full disc control for up to
four 5.25in. drives with
double- or single-sided
densities, a plug-in S-100
bus option, a plug-in RS-232
option, and a Centronics
parallel-printer output. The
standard 16K of memory
can be extended simply by
plugging in 4116 memories.
The device is designated the
code EG-3014, and the
hardware interface for the
Tandy is the EG-3023, 40- or
50-pin bus adaptor. For
details, contact Robert
Stead at Lowe Electronics.
Telephone: 0628-2430. Q
too, is done on a multiple-for
mat basis.
Like VisiCalc, the program
is user-friendly, which is the
American way of saying it is
easy to use. In fact, Barry Jac-
ques. managing director of the
progra m 's U . K . d 1st ri bu tor,
ACT Microsoft, said: * % Even
people who are unfamiliar
with computers will be able to
master the program and begin
to use it immediately. Instruc-
tions are simple and direct and
are selected from an easy-to-
understand menu system".
Flexi Format is a feature of
VisiFile which makes it easy to
change, rearrange and add
unforeseen information to
records, or combine records
into files. Users may also create
a partial file definition for
fast data entry of specific por-
tions ol code. VisiFile can link
to other Visi programs which
make it a powerful tool in the
hands of any administrator,
manager, or indeed anyone
who requires desk-top com-
puting.
VisiFile runs on the Apple II
microcomputer, requiring
48K, one disc drive and either
the language card or the
Applesoft Basic card. Two disc
drives improve performance.
Suggested retail price is £160.
Telephone ACT on 021-454
8585, to find the name of your
nearest dealer. []]
46
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
~~ — Printout—
Avoiding that fatal
loss of memory
Commodore
as terminal
THE pet microcomputer is a
sight cheaper than most main-
frame terminals, so it makes
financial sense to use it as one
if possible. In the past this has
not always been so, but now
Peach Data Services are mar-
keting emulators and cluster
controllers which match the
terminal’s characteristics to
the IBM-3277 or IBM-3284.
Not only does the Pet
become a terminal, but it can
also work as a computer in its
own right. Furthermore it
becomes possible to run Com-
modore software on the main-
frame — even VisiCalc. Peach
can also provide emulators for
other IBM equipment as well
as ICL and DEC versions.
Contact Brian Holmwood at
Peach: 0283-48977. □
THE SUPERB RAIN’S CP/M
operating system is upgraded
by two of the latest software
products. ZDOS will be of spe-
cial use to those engaged in
software development work.
Using the Z-80 instruction set
to keep coding and execution
time to a minimum, the soft-
ware provides a range of feat-
ures in addition to the stan-
dard DOS.
The improvements are:
standard, one-tone, screen-
memory mapping, an increase
How
took
RADIO NETHERLANDS has
made an unusual initiative in
telesoftware transmission. In a
recent worldwide broadcast
from Hilversum, the Media
Network programme — a 30-
minute weekly slot dedicated
to communications topics —
sent out a Basic program to be
recorded on cassette and
loaded directly into memory.
The program, transmitted in
three versions for listeners
with Pet, Apple and Tandy
TRS-80 micros, was a 90-line
direction and bearing routine
written by John Campbell of
the Exeter University Depart-
ment of Computing.
The Dutch broadcasters
in execution speed, 4K more
memory, screen-dump to
printer, documentation and a
printer-busy test.
The printer spooling pro-
gram buffers all output to the
listing device in a 4K buffer.
The program enables contin-
uous printing during disc
changes, transactions, but
functions only under ZDOS.
For further details, contact
Frome Data, 5 The Bridge,
Frome, Somerset BA1 1 1 AR,
or telephone: 0373-71689. [T]
SHORT-TERM power failure is
one of the more annoying
problems which beset micro-
computer users. The powerful
motors that drive lifts or
indeed any power switching
can — and probably will —
cause temporary disruptions to.
the mains supply, and can
result in a computer losing its
memory, or worse.
One way around the prob-
lem is to filter the supply;
another is to use a back-up
battery, but the latest solution
is to use a high-capacitance
device.
The NEC Supercap range of
capacitors provide values of up
were keen to discover whether
a satisfactory signal-to-noise
ratio could be achieved on the
normal AM — amplitude-
modulated — system, which
suffers from man-made and
atmospheric inter fe re n ce .
Two transmissions were
made; one to Europe and
another a week later relayed to
North America and the Pacific
via transmitters in Bonaire and
Madagascar. They arc fed by
satellite with a bandwidth of
about 5.5kHz.
Of 23 5 listeners who
reported back to Hilversum on
their success or failure, 98 said
they had complete success in
capturing and loading the pro-
gram. Though many were said
to have test equipment, some
of the receiving equipment was
only of average standard.
Direct receiver-to-cassette
connection was essential.
From the 98 who succeeded,
61 were using a TRS-80, 36
Pet and only one Apple; 86
percent were in Europe
though one success was
reported from the U.S. with
some from Canada and Belize.
Radio Netherlands sees this
success rate as a clear indica-
tion that software transmission
on the normal broadcast wave-
bands is a practical possibility.
It notes that program data has
already been transmitted on
to IF, and arc the same size as
small batteries. They have a
high value and a slow dis-
charge rate, which means they
are ideally suited as reserve
power sources. In fact, they
can provide microcomputers
with 1mA of current for time
periods as long as 10 seconds,
lower currents for, say. RAM
memories can be provided for
longer periods. For example.
1 fxA will last a week.
Supercap compact capaci-
tors arc available off-the-shelf
from G English Electronics, 34
Bowatcr Road, Woolwich,
London SE 1 8. Telephone: 0 1 -
855 0991. □
amateur-radio wavebands,
which have the more efficient
single sideband (SSB) mode ol
transmission, but believes that
this is the first time that the
AM system has been used as a
mass data transmission
medium.
Media Network is now to
follow the first successful
transmissions with further
broadcasts on short wave.
These will be for the Sinclair
ZX-81. TRS-80 model 1 level
II and Pet micros. A further
development from Dutch
radio ?s the Hobbyscope Basic
code. This is a protocol deve-
loped by the producer of a
domestic Dutch radio pro-
gramme for computer hobby-
ists. It is intended to be an
Esperanto for loading broad-
cast programs to any micro and
consists of a 1 ,200 baud code
containing two tones of 1,200
and 2 ,400 Hz.
The Hobbyscope ties in with
a radio broadcast on FM and
MW which reaches 1,200
enthusiasts in the Netherlands.
It goes out at 1730 GMT on
Sunday nights on I lilversum 1 .
For further details of the
Hobbyscope code and more
information on Radio Nether-
lands contact, Jonathon
Marks, Media Network PO
Box 222, 1200 JG Hilversum,
The Netherlands. jtj
This RAM expansion board from Timedata is supplied in a
version designed to fit in the case of an Acorn Atom. There
are both 16Kbyte and 32Kbyte versions and single Euro-
card versions as well as the Atom one. Prices are 16K
Atom £59.50, 32K Atom £74, 16K Eurocard £62, 32K
Eurocard £76.50. Contact Timedata Ltd, 57 Swallowdale,
Basildon Essex. Telephone: 0268-23234. Q
Dutch software
to the air
Program Developers’ gain by
Superbrain upgrades
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
47
The new Xerox 820
micro-computer system.
* Budgeting
* Planning
* Forecasting
* Wordprocessing
etc...etc...etc...
Now available at The Xerox Store
Rank Xerox are proud to introduce their first And vnn nan keen r
Rank Xerox are proud to introduce their first
micro computer, a brilliant new development specifically
designed for the smaller businessman.
And his pocket.
Made by Xerox (one of the world’s biggest manu
facturers of business equipment) the 820 is one of the
most inexpensive and versatile computers on the market.
The 820 can help you with all your budgeting,
planning, forecasting and word processing problems.
The Xerox Store
And you can keep adding to the system from a widi
range of software options.
Also you’ll have the full backing of the Rank Xerox
on-site, full service and maintenance agreement, so you
can buy in total confidence.
So if you’re a small businessman looking for a
superb micro-computer system, pop in and see the new
Xerox 820. Now at The Xerox Store, the specialists in
the business efficiency needs of the smaller business.
Pop in and buy a more efficient business.
48
Now 4 stores at: 110 Moorgate EC2. Tel: 01 588 1531
84 Piccadilly Wl. Tel: 01-629 0694 76/77 High Holborn WC1. Tel: 01-242 9596
3/4 William Street. Slough. Tel: Slough 76956
RANK Xf RQX J'K! RankXf»u» JM' f oq,sloiPrtifaci,.ma«hs.>» R.mk Xvnu u,»
Price excludes CP/M*
' Registered trade mark of
Digital Research Inc.
• Circle No. 143
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
Printout
Daisywheel SP-830
has the edge in speed
Exports come
under scrutiny
THE DEPARTMENT of Trade
and Industry is urgently
seeking the views of those cur-
rently exporting goods subject
to Security Export Control.
The results of the review will
affect the ability of U.K. com-
panies to export high-techno-
logy goods to certain destin-
ations — mainly those behind
the Iron Curtain.
The Department of Industry
requires advice from those
companies operating in this
area so that it can decide which
goods should be deleted or
added to the list. The area of
computers and their associated
software, and hardware are
under particular scrutiny.
All companies which con-
sider that they may be affected
by this or which wish to oppose
changes to the list should make
representations through their
trade association, or, in excep-
tionally important cases,
directly to the Department of
Industry, IT2c, Dean Bradley
House, London SWIP 2 AG.
quoting SEC/PR81. Q
FUJITSU’S NEW daisywheel
printer, the SP-830. has a
maximum print speed of 80
characters per second — signi-
ficantly faster than competing
products. It is being launched
and marketed in the U.K. by
Zvgal Dynamics, a company
specialising in the distribution
and servicing of printers at the
top end of the market.
The SP-830 is available with
both parallel and serial RS-
232 interfaces. It has twin,
high-speed servo motors, a
servo-controlled position sen-
sor, a high-speed hammer and
bi-directional printing. The
daisywheels are standard 1 27-
or 06 -character founts in either
metal or plastic. Xerox or
Qumc print wheels can be
used.
Con Driscoll, chairman of
Zvgal, is proud of the fact that
his products are “not the
cheapest ’. This, he feels, is the
reason why Zvgal is competi-
tive — it can provide the sup-
port, that customers require.
Zvgal Dynamics has its own
field engineering team to pro-
vide on-the-spot repair and
service. The company already
markets Diablo and General
Electric printer products, and
has a number of other distribut-
orships.
The price of the Fujitsu SP-
830 printer varies greatly
because of the wide range of
available options. However,
the one-off basic unit will retail
at £ 1 .500 and Zygal will main-
tain it for a further £25 per
month. Extra charges are
made for various interfaces
and options. For further
details about these and the
printer, contact Zygal Dyna-
mics. Zygal House, Telford
Road, Bicester, Oxfordshire
0X6 0XB. Telephone: 08692-
3361. □
This 40-column printer interfaces directly to the Apple
computer. The RX-40 Apple printer is available from Rox-
burgh, and consists of a thermal mechanism mounted on
its own driver card. A ribbon cable facilitates connection
to a card which fits in one of the six slots inside the Apple.
The printer requires a 19V DC power supply which is
externally fitted. Screen Dump and high-resolution gra-
phics are possible on the printer and it takes just 10
seconds to print a page of graphics. The printer retails for
£152 and is available from Roxburgh Printers Ltd, 22
Winchelsea Road, Rye, East Sussex. Telephone: Rye (079
73) 3777. □
Texas 16-bit micro to
hit desk-top market
a 16 bit desk-top microcom
putcr extends the present
Texas Instruments range down
into the most competitive sec
tor of the market Texas
Instruments has called the
computer the Business System
200 and it is the first of a new
range of small business
systems planned by the com-
pany. The machine is a small
desk-top, single-user computer
based on the 1 6-bit TMS-9900
microprocessor chip.
The Business System 200 is
designed to be compatible with
other, up-market Texas com-
puters. including the more
expensive multi-user
machines. The machine will
retail at less than £5.000 and
offers 64 K user RAM, a dis-
play keyboard and processor.
The keyboard may be
detached, and the display feat-
ures 80 columns across a 1 2in.
screen. The whole unit works
from a standard 1 3A socket.
There are four models in the
initial range and they differ
from one another only in disc
storage capacity — the 220 has
twin double-sided, double-
density discs providing
I. 2Mbvtes. At the top is the
25 1 with two Winchester hard-
disc units as well as 8in. floppy
back-up, giving a total of
I I . 2Mbytes of on-line storage.
For further details contact
Texas Instruments: 0234-
67466. □
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
49
Printout
Telex paper is how Facit
reduces hard-copy costs
A PORTABLE printer offers
low-cost hard copy by using
standard Telex roll paper. The
Facit 4520 costs £583 plus
VAT and is suitable for use
with small-business systems,
educational computer installa-
tions, personal microcom-
puters and data loggers.
The machine is small, about
Min. by 13in., and it weighs
only 9.5kg. The acoustically-
damped housing together with
the floating-suspension con-
struction combine to give a
noise level of less than 60dB.
A microprocessor controller
system ensures that each line is
printed using the minimum'
carriage transport distance.
The standard ASCII character
set plus a number of different
national character sets are
available, and they are soft-
ware-selectable. A choice of
print-formatting commands
are also on hand.
The 4520 can work at high
transmission speeds — up to
9,600 band — and the 712-
character input buffer helps to
increase the throughput.
Screen contents can rapidly be
dumped on the printer. Hi-
Tek, Trafalgar Way, Bar Hill,
Cambridge CB3 8SQ. Q
Printed word said to
improve with Ap Pak
Reflecting on
eye-strain
VDU REFLECTIVE GLARE
reduced by 70-95 percent and
screen static by 60-80 percent
are the claims made for a range
of products whose success in
Europe has now led to their
launch in the U.K. The main
product of the range is the
Tele-Antireflex, which has
been developed to reduce the
glare of microcomputer and
word-processor screens. It is
claimed using Tele-Antireflex
can mean considerable gains in
operator efficiency and that
eye-strain and headaches can
be reduced.
Tele-Clear improves screen
characters definition and Tele-
Colour gives white screen
characters a light-green or yel-
low colour. Statiflect-Guard,
55 Fairburn Drive, Garforth.
Leeds. Telephone: 0532-
864981. [TJ
SuperVid is a device which improves the display charac-
teristics of the Superbrain microcomputer. The unit pro-
vides block-graphic ROMs, which give a resolution of 160
by 72 and ASCII ROMs. The board is supplied with a
manual and an instruction disc enabling the user to make
full use of this unit. Screen text can be highlighted or
displayed in the background, underlined or updated. It can
also flash to attract attention to a particular area. Four
resident alternative character sets can be called at any
time and, if required, mixed on screen. A standard option
includes the British £ symbol. SuperVid costs £190 and is
produced by MicroMods Ltd, 53 Acton Road, Long Eaton,
Nottingham NG10 1FR. Telephone: 06076-64264. Q
THE APPLE AP pak is the first of
a line of products designed to
enhance the print capabilities
of small-computer systems
using the MPI series of graphic
printers. The product line
includes both software and
hardware products specifically
designed for each computer
system.
Apple Ap Pak contains an
Auto Plot printer-control
card, interface cable, MPI-
developed software programs
and instruction manuals. The
package gives the user the abi-
lity to use all the graphic capa-
bilities of a 88 or 99 graphics
printer.
An unlimited amount of
character founts are available
as well as large headlines. You
can use several type founts on
a line and have the ability to
perform graphics dumps of
high-resolution files.
Ap Pak for the Apple costs
£98.31 and is available from
Russet Instruments. Tele-
phone: 0734-868147. Q
50
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
I I Petspeed h
I] I ( 'lJ ||| | available fc
Wmm I ^^0 II I of its other <
the fait lane
If you're thinking of buying a Basic Compiler let us
first show you exactly what we mean by 'Life in the
fast lane'.
Oxford Computer Systems (Software) Ltd.,
suppliers of the first Basic Compiler for the Pet,
have prepared an enlightening demonstration
disk giving direct speed comparisons between Pet
Basic, Petspeed and the alternative Basic
Compiler.
Petspeed is the only optimising Basic Compiler
available for any microcomputer, which is only one
of its other advantages..
FASTER - Petspeed is capable of
M double the speed of the DTL Basic
Compiler and up to 40 times the speed
of Pet Basic.
Oxford Computer Sy
SHORTER PROGRAM SIZE - the size of long
programs is considerably reduced.
COMPATIBLE - Petspeed will compile ANY Pet
Basic program.
OPTIMISATION - Petspeed is the only optimising
Basic Compiler available for any microcomputer,
because of its optimisation, programs run much
faster.
SECURITY - Your programs belong to YOU.
Oxford Computer Systems (Software) Ltd. makes
no claim on Petspeed Compiled programs. No
dongle or security device is required for compiled
programs and users can build in their own
protection. Petspeed code is unlistable and
compiled programs cannot be tampered with.
PRICE - we will leave you to compare prices.
Also available COMPILED INTEGER BASIC —
150 to 200 times the speed of Basic Compiled.
Compiled Basic is for those applications where the
speed of the machine is required without the
inconvenience of assembly level programming.
Ideal for scientific and educational users.
Compatible with Petspeed.
Petspeed for 8000 series £240
Compiled Basic £165
Special Offer: Petspeed for 8000 series PLUS
Compiled Basic for just £320.
Write or phone today for a free copy of the 'Life in
the fast lane' demonstration disk.
Oxford Computer Systems (Software) Ltd. aA
7 & 8 Park End Street, Oxford OX1 1HH
Telephone Oxford (0865) 49597
* Circle No. 144
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
51
The Systems
RADER 1000 with Dual 5V 4 drives RADER 2000 with Dual 8 drives
By combining the economy of using the most up-to-date techniques of microprocessor technology with the reliability of
British design and engineering, these highly advanced systems of tomorrow are affordable and available to you today. Just
look at what we’re offering.
Start with the economically designed, free-standing keyboard, where your fingertips can glide easily over the 92 keys,
which eagerly respond to your touch through innovative capacitive technology. It has it's own intelligence, through it’s micro-
processor control, enabling fast reliable response to your every instruction. A special feature is full diagonal cursor control for
rapid cursor positioning (keyboard layout can be easily reconfigured for special applications).
Your eyes can rest comfortably on the 12" screen, with it’s clear, high resolution display, enabling quick decisions to be
made from it’s clarity of output. The latest lowpower 514 " or slimline 8" double-sided double-density precision drives provide
accurate, fast retrieval of data from the highly efficient data store,
which uses double-sided double-density floppy disk format.
The powerful heart of the system, it’s Z80 A microprocessor,
pounds quietly and efficiently away at a rate of 4 MHz. It will obey
your every instruction, and memorise every bit of information in it’s
on-board 64K of dynamic RAM.
This highly flexible machine will communicate to the
peripherals of your choice, through dual parallel or serial input/
output ports. Future needs are well taken care of, as we’ve allowed
sufficient room for 12 or more dual port expansion boards.
The whole system is reliably powered via it’s sophisticated
multi-output switched-mode power supply.
To all this, we’ve added the ease and availability of running
CP/M 2.2 software plus the entire CP/M users library and also
the new Paxton.
RADER 1000 £1480 RADER 2000 £1980
Features of these surprisingly low-priced
systems include:—
•CPU -Z80 A 4 MHz •ROM area
expandable to - 16K x 8 bits
•RAM area - 64K bytes of RAM
•DMA capability - Powerful and versatile
management of data transfer between ports. Memory
to ports, port to Memory. •Floppy Disc Control - Using the
WD 1397 chip-set to provide full double-sided double-density
storage in IBM 3740 format. •Character Generator RAM - Arranged as
2K Bytes of memory-mapped storage enabling a wide range of character sets to
be created. •Memory-Mapped Video Display - 2K Bytes of memory-mapped storage provides fast, flexible display Inverse
Video. Video enhancement. Invert character. Dual Intensity. Multi-Level Expansion Connectors available.
Option Boards
•ROM Expansion Board - For user Read Only Memory Expansion. ®RAM Expansion Board -Through P 10 Controlled
Boards, each with 3 pages of 64K Bytes. •Serial Ports - 2 Serial I/O Ports utilising Z80 A SIO • Parallel Ports -
2 Parallel I/O Ports utilising Z80 A PIO. •Real Time Clock with battery back-up
Shortly Available
•Cassette Interface •8bitAtoDand D to A boards. ©Hard Disk Interface •Programmable Video Controller
Designed and Engineered in the United Kingdom and supported with a full year’s Warranty.
For further information contact your local dealer or ’phone or write to:
I I ■kll ■ Rade Systems Ltd., 53/55, Ballards Lane, London N3 1XP.
1 T 1 Telephone: 01-349 4711/4 Telex: 46523 SIMSYS G
52
• Circle No. 145
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
— — Telesoftware
Progress in using Prestel as a medium for publishing software has not been as rapid as
many had expected. Martin Hayman finds out why, and reports on the latest steps
towards the development of fully-automatic software transmission via Prestel.
Flying on autopilot
it was AS an attempt to let the vast public
sort out the vexatious problem of proto-
col standards for Prestel when used as a
medium for software transmission that
Prestel boffin Dr Ederyn Williams made
our Prestel pages available. We had the
contacts — in the form of you, our
readers, busy writing software of all kinds
— and we had access to a well-sorted
editing system. Put the two together, was
the idea, and the public would be able to
decide what it wanted.
Well it has not happened quite like
that. To some extent, we underestimated
the size — or should we say the rankness?
— of the problem. We started from the
premise that the majority of people using
Prestel to recover software would be little
different from the regular or business user
of Prestel. That is to say, they would be
equipped with a dumb terminal and possi-
bly some way of recording data from the
screen either by printing out a hard copy
or by recording on to cassette.
We figured that such users would
browse through Prestel telesoftware
pages on “manual” until they found
something to their liking. After checking
a couple of pages of listing and deciding to
go for it, they would then record.
Thereafter they would have to key the
stuff back into their own micro.
Keying-in is of course an immensely
laborious business. I say this with feeling.
One of the principal reasons for the slow
growth of Practical Telesoftware during
last year has been that we had to enter all
our pages manually. This is slow and
prone to errors.
The CET approach
Among the points made by Ed Wil-
liams when we reviewed the progress of
Practical Telesoftware last autumn was
that there is now a new generation of
microcomputer users who are less
tolerant of errors. The first batch of
stone-age freaks positively welcomed
errors; debugging programs was all part
of the game. Once you had conquered the
problems, there was little left to do.
Today’s users are more direct. They
want the cassette, disc or whatever it is
that they paid for to run properly first
time — and that goes for programs
received through the local area network
or via an international common carrier.
In other words, users want a clean pro-
gram in their micro and may not be espec-
ially concerned with the protocol used in
its presentation to Prestel. Obviously,
Prestel is a clean medium for document-
ing programs, doing the introductions and
all the usual hype surrounding a program;
but when it comes to the listing, the code
which is to be executed, why not let the
autopilot take over and shoot the whole
thing straight into the RAM of your
micro, stripped of the characteristics
peculiar to Prestel?
This is the approach which Mike Brown
of the Council for Educational Techno-
logy has long advocated, along with its
equipment supplier Research Machines.
The fact that the screen is at first sight
completely different from your machine’s
screen is not important; fully-automatic
loading via a conversion program strips
out all the unfamiliar characters which are
for Prestel purposes only. What you get is
what you see.
Existing software
Obviously with such a system it is
essential to have effective error checking
to combat telephone-line noise. Mike
Brown's CET format offers such checking
and, since it exists already, why not use it,
the BT people asked us. With some reluc-
tance, we had already conceded that tele-
software was only really telesoftware if it
was automatic. So we are eating our
words and, to cut a long story short, we
will be going CET shortly. The advantage
to us — and it is a major one — is that
software already exists to upload pro-
grams on to Prestel in this format, and we
shall not miss the copy-typing of listings.
EDERYN WILLIAMS, has finally, on Pre-
stel's behalf, grasped the standards nettle
firmly. Unstung, it seems, he has brought
it back to grow in the right patch —
Telephone House, Temple Avenue, EC4.
In a bold initiative to fertilise the mar-
ket, Williams has launched a competition,
along with Practical Computing , to inter-
face the Sinclair ZX-81 with Prestel. The
ZX-81, it can hardly have escaped your
notice, has proved a remarkably fecund
seedbed for youthful inventors. All sorts
of unlikely peripherals have been hung on
to the basic box, even including, so
rumour has it, a hard disc.
Now British Telecom is to cultivate the
same ground in aid of that wilting bloom
of British genius, Prestel. It has offered a
£1,000 reward to the best device which
will download telesoftware from Prestel
into the ZX-8Ts RAM. The device will
necessarily include hardware and soft-
Now we hope to be able to get on with
the important business of putting up
documentation about the new and mass-
ively expanded database. Meanwhile our
various experts will be gathering together
suitable programs and evaluating them.
By this means, we hope, Prestel will
become the prime local area network.
Along with the recently introduced Mail-
box, which started last autumn, and the
usual action frames, which have been on
the system since the beginning, the pro-
spect of Prestel as a speedy communica-
tions medium moves one step nearer.
It is furthered by the cut in price of the
Tantel, now down to a crazy £125, plus a
few pounds more for the software. As one
set manufacturer confided at a recent
viewdata exhibition, “We might as well
give up”. The Tantel is specifically and
directly aimed at the micro user and its
great popularity among viewdata profes-
sionals has caused BT to keep a very close
eye on what they do. However, the much-
canvassed plan to buy tens of thousands
of them and give them away is still, sadly,
unlikely ever to come about. One of our
priorities is to put up some action frames
which quiz users on the type of equipment
they use to get at our pages. It is likely that
at least half will be using Tantel already.
By the end of next year a similar propor-
tion will be using Tantel and a micro, as
the BT people commission interfaces, our
database grows and interfacing becomes
more reliable. Q
ware, be capable both of production and
of further development and will ideally be
able to handle the CET — Council for
Educational Technology — format.
Everyone hopes that it will be “in the
spirit of the ZX-8 1 ”. This does not mean
that it has to look flat and black, like a
futurist cigar-box. What it does mean is
up to you. The closing date for entries is
March 14, 1982. Q
ZX-81 INTERFACE
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
53
The Osborne is designed, in the
words of its creator, to put
simplicity back into micro-
computing. Peter Laurie tests
this compact U.S. machine.
Osborne
and the
case for
portability
adam osborne has produced a machine
which is designed to sell in large numbers
to people who are not experienced micro-
users. It will stand or fall by the first
impression it gives, not the ingenuity of its
hidden technical features.
Starting from the outside, then, you
first come to the box. When closed up the
machine looks and weighs much like a
portable sewing machine. It is encased in
a textured cream plastic which seems
reasonably tough and resilient. The
carrying handle, in synthetic leather, is at
the back of the machine when it is set up
for work. The base of the case is formed
by the underside of the keyboard, which
clips on over the screen and disc drives.
Plethora of parts
The underside of the keyboard is
sloped to give rake to the keys, so if you
put it down to rest the aching arm* the
whole thing stands with a slight lean. You
have to be careful where you put it to be
sure it will not fall over.
The keyboard slots upwards into a
recessed lip in the main case to keep rain
out. The power lead, however, stows in a
recess or well in what is the top when the
machine is being carried, where the mains
on/off switch and the overload cutout
reset button are also to be found. A dash
from aircraft to airport terminal in a
heavy shower might allow enough water
in there to produce some fireworks later
on.
The jumper to reset mains power from
240V in the U.K. to the standard Ameri-
can 110V is buried inside the box. A
sticker on the front says “No user service-
able parts inside'’ and indeed to get inside
you need a screwdriver and some Allen
keys, so changing voltages for a transat-
lantic journey would not be a simple job.
It is unfortunate that the British mains
plug is much bigger than the U.S. design
and will not fit into the recess. Osborne
says it will redesign for this, but making
the recess deeper may mean altering the
mould for the case and perhaps shifting
components about inside where there
cannot be much room for manoeuvre.
The box weighs about 24 lb. This is
about as much as you would want to carry
the length of a big car-park, particularly if
you have anything else with you at the
time. The machine is said to fit under an
airline seat — a claim we were not able to
test. It might just be true. The machine is
certainly too heavy to be allowed in over-
head lockers on most aircraft.
To operate the Osborne you lay it on its
side — the side with the little feet —
unclip the sturdy catches that retain the
keyboard, lay it in front of the machine
and set to work. Unlike most machines
today that present a blank box to the user,
the Osborne has a definite dashboard that
looks quite military in the profusion of
parts supplied. The front of the machine is
a rather nasty pressed-fibre panel which,
to begin with, smells very synthetic.
On each side at the top there is a 5.25in.
disc drive and between them lies the
screen. Below the discs there are two
carrying pockets for floppies with room
enough, so the manual says, for 30 of
them. It would be useful if the machine
manual itself would fit into one of them,
but it just did not.
On the bottom row, looking from left to
right, there is: a male Modem socket with
some pins that, although recessed, looked
rather fragile; a female 25-pin RS-232
socket, and IEEE-488 edge connector to
the computer board; the keyboard
socket; brightness and contrast knobs for
the screen; an external video connector;
the reset button; and a nine-pin male
socket for an external battery.
The manual has very little to say about
the external battery. Judging from the
number of pins provided, it is supplied
with inverter circuits to provide the dif-
ferent voltages needed by the computer.
It could be quite an expensive item. You
begin to wonder whether the rest of the
machine — particularly the mini-floppies
— is up to the outdoor life suggested by
battery power.
The keyboard and front of the box is a
surprisingly bulky component in a
machine where every cubic inch must
count. It has QWERTY keyboard plus
four cursor-moving arrow keys and a
separate numeric keypad. The connec-
tion to the machine is through a stiff, flat
cable that plugs into the front panel
through a satisfactory lock or eject soc-
ket. The keyboard does not have to be
unplugged when the machine is folded up.
Unfortunately the connecting cable is
rather too stiff. It stands up in a loop and
covers the bottom part of the screen. If
you move the computer back to straight-
en it out the screen is too far away for
comfort; if you bend the cable downwards
it tends to pop back up at a crucial
moment. A small problem, but an
annoying one.
Fortunately it is possible to prop the
front of the computer on top of the back
of the keyboard. This brings the cable
loop lower and improves the view of the
screen. The lip around the front of the
computer box to hold the keyboard pro-
vides a modest amount of physical stabi-
lity.
Remarkable VDU
Given that CP/M does most of the
donkey work, there are few areas in which
the designer can show any ingenuity. The
screen is, up to a point, one of them and
here the Osborne is clever.
Most people on seeing the machine for
the first time, remark on the smallness of
the built-in VDU. It measures only
3.55in. by 2.63in. and on to that small
area the designers have crammed 24 lines
of text 52 characters long. In practice it
works quite well and can be read without
eye-strain. The characters are well-
shaped and clearly printed, largely
because they are made up from a matrix
eight wide by 10 high.
The screen characters are slightly
larger than the type this article is printed
in. It may be that a small screen with
characters the same size as print and type-
writing is less tiring than a larger one
simply because the eye does not have to
change its accommodation in looking
54
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
Review
from the screen to text and back again. If
the contrast is turned up too high there
are irritating fly-back traces. This is prob-
ably caused by the adaptation from 60 Hz
American mains to the 5()Hz U.K.
supply. A normal-size external VDU is
supplied with the machine and can be
plugged into the VDU socket on the
dashboard.
The logical arrangement of the screen
is more questionable. The 52-bv-24 char-
acter VDU acts as a window on a larger
notional page 128 characters wide by 32
deep. By using the arrow keys you can, in
principle, skid the physical screen over
the internal document. Presumably the
idea is that “what you see is what you get”
particularly in text formatting. Setting
aside the slight difficulty that most
printers give 132 characters across a line,
it is impossible to judge the final appear-
ance of a document by sliding a small
window around it.
Sensible implementation
The machine is supplied with CP/M,
WordStar, Mailmerge, Supcrcalc,
MBasic — the interpreter, not the com-
piler — and CBasic. Osborne's promotio-
nal literature makes much of the notion
that you can buy the computer and £800-
worth of software for £1,200. It is not
really all that odd. The only irreducible
cost of mass-distributed software is the
cost of making each copy. That comes to
£5 or £10 at the very most.
Some of the system software — CP/M's
BIOS — is kept in ROM on a second
page, which frees about 2K of RAM for
extra program space.
On loading MBasic, for instance, the
Osborne declares 29K-odd of free
memory as against the more conventional
Research Machines — nominal 64 K —
which shows 27K. There seem to be no
secrets made about the memory map,
ports and other useful details. The IEEE-
488 interface is lavishly documented —
but not so the RS-232. There are only two
possible baud rates — 300 and 1,200 —
and no choice about stop bits.
A single manual is supplied with the
machine in an A5 ring binder. It is typeset
and well laid out. The text is generally
clear and sensible, but it is marred by
some rather silly mistakes. For instance
pin 7 of the Modem output is connected
to 12V supply “through a 22-ohm
register” — evidently, the author meant
“resistor”. The manual not only intro-
duces the naive user to computing and to
this particular machine, it also covers all
the applications software and the systems
internals for the benefit of machine-code
programmers. The original manuals for
CP/M. CBasic, MBasic, WordStar, Mail-
merge, Supercalc and a representative Z-
80 machine would together weigh about
as much as the whole Osborne computer.
To boil them down into a pocket-sized
book is an impressive feat.
The Osborne is a CP/M machine. The
whole point of the operating system is
that all CP/M machines are supposed to
behave the same regardless of the
maker’s name on the box. So, from one
point of view, all the manufacturer can do
to CP/M is implement it badly. The
manufacturer may well try to work CP/M
over to improve it, but in doing so, he runs
the grave risk of producing a non-stan-
dard machine that is worse than useless.
Providing extra features which enhance
CP/M without making it non-standard is
to risk that they will only be used by
people writing software specifically for
one machine. They cannot be used by
standard, widely-distributed software
packages and will therefore be a waste of
effort. Happily Osborne’s implementa-
tion of CP/M seems conventional and
competent.
The discs fitted to the review machine
were single-sided, single-density and
soft-sectored, giving 102,400 bytes per
disc. The manual states airily that double-
and quad-density discs can be used, but
you cannot help fearing for reliability in a
machine that is apt to be bumped about as
much as this one may.
The manual devotes 1 1 closely-written
pages to CP/M, covering the functions
that ordinary users need, with reasonable
clarity and detail. As an afterthought,
there is also a Help page on the screen.
When you boot the machine from cold,
the Osborne logo is displayed for a few
seconds while the machine does a
memory test. A Help menu then appears,
giving 26 options under the letters of the
alphabet: pressing any one leads to a
further screen or screens that explain a
particular feature of the machine. The
“W” option, for instance, leads to a
demonstration of WordStar.
The naive user is advised to read the
first two chapters of the manual before
using the Help menu. Since the Help
screens repeat the manual but less fully
and in a different format, it is hard to see
what useful purpose they serve. Further-
more, although a user who wants to access
CP/M can escape from Help by pressing
Escape: the Help screen does not explain
this. Seeing the menu appear every time
you boot the machine could play on your
nerves.
The essence of the problem is that
CP/M was written by a professional pro-
grammer for other professionals and does
its job well enough. It was never intended
to make computers easy for everyone else
to understand. The novice must struggle
with the strange concepts of discs, files,
formatting, soft sectors, operating
systems, applications programs, langu-
age, data files, com files — the list seems
to go on for ever in a baffling jumble of
concepts.
An extra element in the problem is the
customer who buys a computer while
knowing nothing about it. This is a very
different creature from the user who,
three or six months later, understands the
machine and is happy with it. The diffi-
culty facing the industry is to turn one into
the other without tears. It is not going to
be delivered by more explanation. What
we need are simpler concepts.
This is where the basic idea of the
Osborne is interesting. It obviously has
some spark of marketing inspiration
about it. Cheapness is one element — at
£1,200 it is a good buy against its obvious
competitor, the Apple. But there is more
to it than that. The Superbrain, for
instance, is technically very similar. It is a
64K, Z-80, CP/M machine with key-
board, VDU and computer in one pack-
age and is not a lot less portable than the
Osborne at a similar price. Yet the
Osborne is said to be selling in vastly
greater quantities. It has, in the eyes of
the buying public, some spark which dif-
ferentiates it from other machines which
are technically very similar. What is that
spark?
Surely it is the machine’s physical por-
tability. Yet in practice it is not clear how
useful that will be. If your computing
produces results in any quantity you will
need a printer. A printer can hardly be
much smaller than the Osborne itself but
none, as far as I know, is designed to be
bundled up and carried around. Few, in
fact, are physically robust enough to stand
much bumping. Then you need a stock of
paper and, more than likely, the external
VDU. You end up with a fairly unwieldy
bundle of bits connected by the usual
spaghetti, much like any other machine.
The machine’s apparent physical por-
tability must be psychologically impor-
tant. It suggests to the person who knows
little about computing that here, at last, is
something which he can — literally —
pack up neatly and carry away. The physi-
cal mess of most installations is inter-
preted as mental mess.
Osborne cleverly presented the
machine in a physically compact bundle
that suggests subliminally to the
customers that the mental mess has some-
how disappeared. Of course they do not
find out that it is still there until they have
bought it. That is not to suggest that
Osborne is deceitful. The more people
that get to grips with computing the better
for us all, and if he has found a way of
overcoming the customers’ perfectly
sensible mistrust, then so much the better.
Conclusions
• At £1,200 the machine is good value.
• To launch a brand-new design with such
a range of software is an elaborate project:
it will be astonishing if everything is per-
fect from the start.
• It is most important that Osbourne is
willing to correct mistakes: this seems to
be the case.
• With the external VDU and printer, the
machine will not be nearly as portable as it
may seem at first sight.
• It is not clear how useful portability will
be to most users. Q
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
55
ALPHATRONIC
olvmpia and Olivetti are just two of the
large companies to have already launched
their assaults on the microcomputer mar-
ket; now the West German giant
Triumph-Adler is entering the arena with
the Alphatronic.
Like the competition, Triumph-Adler
is aiming at the business user — a
manager in a larger concern or the pro-
prietor of a small business. In fact at the
current price, the machine should be in
the range of most shopkeepers — which,
based on Napoleon’s statistics, should
mean plenty of sales in this country.
Large market
The decision to sell to the uninitiated is
wise — the computing tyros constitute a
large potential market. The Alphatronic
is not like the Apple; very few users will
use the machine for work all week and
then take it home to hunt round dungeons
all weekend. The fact that Triumph-
Adler knows the market in question is
reflected in the profusion of “off-the-
peg” software available for the machine.
I suspect that very few systems will be
sold without software packages. Apple
For many would-be business
users, the current wave of
micros from the traditional
office-equipment
manufacturers serves only to
complicate the already difficult
task of choosing a machine. To
help them with that choice, Bill
Bennett assesses the
Alphatronic, one of the latest to
join the flood.
computers never sold faster than when
VisiCalc was introduced. Yet the Apple
was not designed for the business market:
that particular market embraced the
Apple II, the Pet and the Tandy simply
because they were there.
The Alphatronic is a serious machine
— it means business and like the other
computers being sold primarily to
business users, a good deal of attention
has been paid to its external features.
Triumph-Adler has not had an easy
ride of late, and by all accounts the
Alphatronic has not been the stunning
success it should have been. The Econo-
mist , October 1981, in an article about
the tribulations of Volkswagen, the
parent company of Triumph-Adler,
stated that $3 billion had been frittered
away in a “madcap foray into office
equipment”. Furthermore, the article
went on to state that Volkswagen had
“bungled its new electronics business”.
The facts of the matter are that Volks-
wagen took control of Triumph-Adler
back in March 1979, and it is reported
that the office-equipment company has
been in trouble ever since. Apparently
the problems are due to a lack of under-
standing of the computer market. Where
does this leave the Alphatronib? The
guided tour of the machine exposed a few
shortcomings, but nothing bad enough to
stop sales. In fact at the price, the Alpha-
tronic is a good, but not outstanding,
hard-working machine.
The human interface
The computer has a reassuring feel to
it. The Triumph-Adler design team cer-
tainly paid plenty of attention to the out-
ward appearance of the computer. Not
only is the machine good-looking but on
the whole it interfaces with humanity
well. It would appear that few details have
been overlooked. As an object lesson in
ergonomics, the Alphatronic is to be
recommended.
Designers often resort to gimmicks; not
here, though. The Alphatronic looks and
feels like a real business machine, ready
to take on the most demanding of tasks.
The same attention to detail appears to
have been paid to the hardware inside the
box as well. If initial impressions have any
say in the matter — and remember inex-
perienced buyers will not have anything
else to go by — the Alphatronic will be a
success.
Off-white plastic
The monitor sits on top of the main-
processor and keyboard unit. It is finished
in the same off-white plastic as the main
unit, so it does not have that out-of-place,
or even lost look of some monitors. The
plastic casing used for all the parts of the
Alphatronic system tends to become a
little soiled — especially if you have been
handling the printer ribbon. It should not
prove very difficult to clean, though.
Sanyo, the Japanese electronic giant,
left a sticker on the back of the monitor to
remind us that not everything on the
Alphatronic is a marvel of German
engineering. As the Alphatronic is a
European computer it is not surprising
that attention has been paid to the screen.
Some European countries actually have
legally-enforceable regulations about
computer displays. The Danes like to
have yellow on brown displays, claiming
56
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
Review
that they are more restful for the opera-
tor's eyes.
The Alphatronic has an anti-glare
screen made of dark, rigid plastic which
fits snugly over the front of the 1 2in.
screen. This, it is claimed, helps the eyes.
In practice I found that the screen was
more restful than, for example, that of the
Commodore Pet and, of course, the
machine also looks better. For the fasti-
dious few, Sanyo has included controls for
both the monitor brightness and contrast
as well as the necessary power switch.
The really fussy user might even want to
tinker with the horizontal- and vertical-
hold knobs — if he can find them — at the
rear of the machine.
The monitor with the Alphatronic is
separate, so it requires a separate power
point. A typical system would consist of a
main unit, a monitor and a printer, requir-
ing three power sockets. The monitor will
consume 26W, the main unit 100W and
the printer a further 30W. All this adds up
to about two average light bulbs' worth of
electricity. The low power consumption
means that both the monitor and the
printer can tap their power from one
socket, providing a two-way adaptor is
used.
Printer identity
The printer unit supplied with the
system did not easily divulge any clues as
to its origins. The “Made in West Ger-
many" label led me to ^ie assumption
that this printer was in fact made by
Alphatronic. The printer is encased in the
same light-grey plastic as the rest of the
system and looks neat. Inexplicably, its
sloping top suggests aerodynamic design.
On the back of the printer is an
ungainly network of metal, whose role is
obviously to feed paper into the printer.
While I do not doubt that this structure is
useful, it spoils the otherwise neat
appearance of the system. The controls
on the printer are not exactly simple: the
on/off switch on the left can be coped with
easily enough — though next to it is some-
thing mysteriously marked 1 A/T. The
input/output port is standard, but the
controls on the right are confusing.
Paper problems
These controls look harmless enough
— one three-way switch and two push-
buttons, together with two indicators.
The push-buttons are for advancing and
rewinding the paper. The paper-rewind
function seems very useful and is certainly
unusual. The problems really begin,
however, with the three-way switch. It
appears that it has been especially
designed to maximise the amount of
paper used. Fine if you are a paper mer-
chant, but not too healthy if you are a
tree.
When the machine is first turned on,
the test position can be used to check the
printing. Both the darkness and align-
ment can be checked before anything
important is output. However to print
anything, the three-way switch must be in
the on-line position. The main object of
the on/off-line sections of the three-way
switch is to output paper. Of course,
problems really begin if the switch is in
the off-line position when you try print-
ing.
Feeding paper into the printer is not
difficult, but this is hardly surprising when
you consider its appetite for the stuff. A
slide on the top of the printer is used to
release the paper — or grip it, and it feeds
through easily.
On the top of the printer is a trans-
parent plastic window, which by all
accounts must not be removed otherwise
the machine becomes upset and punishes
the user by stopping any printing in pro-
gress. The top half of the printer case
detaches easily to expose the innards. The
case is good and chunky — it should be
capable of taking knocks.
Accidents with ink
The ribbon is encased in a black-plastic
cartridge, which fits on to the mechanism
for moving the print head across the
paper. The ribbon has a protective plastic
sheet which stops the ribbon from slop-
ping ink on the paper by accident. A small
cutout hole is just large enough to enable
the impact dot-matrix print head to oper-
ate. Unlike some dot-matrix printers, this
one has only a single column of pins. The
printer is bi-directional.
The print mechanism is connected to
the circuit board — which is located in the
right-front corner of the printer — by a
flat-ribbon cable, which flexes back and
forth as the printer operates. The board is
screened by a plate of metal filled with
holes. A section of this is cut out to expose
an eight-switch DIL package.
The main unit of the system houses the
computer itself as well as the keyboard
and two floppy-disc units. At the rear is a
(continued on next page)
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
57
Review
( continued from previous page)
recess for the various ports and connec-
tors, as well as a grill for ventilation pur-
poses. The on/off switch is at the bottom,
on the left side of the machine. The front
of the machine consists of a brown panel
which is capped by a toughened top on
which the video monitor sits.
At the top of the front of the machine
are some more ventilation holes; just
below to the right are a pair of disc drives
which sit one on top of the other. Below
all this on a sloping plane is the ergonomi-
cally-designed keyboard. The review
system had a series of paper stickers
attached to it concerning the word-pro-
cessing software which can be used in
conjunction with the machine.
The recess at the back of the machine is
set about 3in. into the casing. The recess is
to allow the plugs which fit into it to be
protected from being dislodged by
accidents.
There are three cannon-type sockets,
one of which interfaces to the printer.
Two of these sockets have 25 holes and
the third has 37.
Earthing bar
Under the three sockets is the video
output, and to the left a rather Heath-
Robinson earthing bar — the supplied
system was connected to this bar simply
by having the screen part of the printer
cable wound around a post on the bar.
Next to the 37-pin socket are two further
cutouts which expose a series of holes on a
circuit board, and beside these is a panel
which can be cut away. This indicates that
there are expansion possibilities.
The disc drives on the front of the
Alphatronic accept the mini-floppy
5.25in. discs — though only the single-
sided variety. The discs have to be pushed
home, and they must be withdrawn com-
pletely for removal. This is because the
drives are not sprung, which may be con-
sidered a serious fault because the discs
will receive an undue amount of wear and
tear.
To open the disc drives, the door has to
be pushed in and then released. Unlike
other machines, the write-protect tabula-
tors must be left on to write to a disc.
LEDs indicate the operation of the
drives. However, unlike the Pet disc unit,
there is no indication on the drives when
something is amiss.
The keyboard is ergonomically
designed — that does not necessarily
mean well designed, though. The Alpha-
tronic suffers from a chronic shift-key
facility, which makes a nightmare of the
word-processing package. The normal
QWERTY keyboard, together with the
more usual keys and the numerics with
the decimal point are in light brown: a set
of six function keys, cursor-control keys,
arithmetic keys, tabulators, all three shift
keys, the return key and one or two whose
use at first seems to be obscure in opera-
tion are all in dark-brown.
Triumph-Adler obviously does not
expect Alphatronic owners to open up
their computers. Undoing the screws is as
easy as ever but prising the two halves of
the case apart is no simple matter. Inside
the top half of the main case is a large
amount of metal foil, apparently for
screening purposes.
The inside looks well filled — in fact
there seems to be far more in the Alpha-
tronic compared with similar machines.
That is obviously due to the integral dual-
disc unit. Triumph-Adler has been very
conscientious about screening in the
Alphatronic. This is very commendable:
screening precautions, if adequate,
remove a large amount of radio inter-
ference.
The normal office
In most normal offices this interference
presents little or no problem. Never-
theless, many Alphatronic users will be
using their machines in the evenings at
home. It is in this kind of user-environ-
ment that screening is useful — after all,
the neighbours might not take it too
kindly if the TV starts to scream in the
middle of Coronation Street , or if the
music on Radio One starts to sound a
little more distorted than usual. Radio
interference is exactly the same effect as
that created by citizens’ band pirates —
the only difference is that they do it
deliberately.
So, the Alphatronic is an attractive
machine for the small-business owner
who likes to work at home. The screening
also improves the performance of the
machine since the pieces of metal around
the disc drives prevent any interference
from affecting the computer circuits
proper.
Important factor
This is important because in the same
way that more or less any digital circuit
can act as a radio transmitter, they also act
as receivers. Spurious signals can easily
appear on any line between any two
points. Often, this effect is referred to as
“noise”, and often that is just what it is.
Nevertheless curious things happen in
computers in close proximity to powerful
transmitters.
Among the list of transmitters of radio
interference are transformers and
motors, both of which appear in a com-
puter. So screening is a good idea anyway
and is aided in the Alphatronic by plates
of metal on the inside bottom of the
casing. In addition to this and the foil in
the top of the case, there is a metal grill
around the disc unit — often a persistent
offender.
The air-conditioning of the Alphatro-
nic is another area which has been well
served by the engineers. All around the
case are ventilation grills and at the back
is a 9W fan. The main components of the
machine are contained in a rack of seven
boards. The heat-sinks provided on the
regulators are at least two sizes bigger
than those needed for safety.
Working from the left to the right the
first board in the rack contains the power-
supply unit. A large transformer sits on
the board and shows no signs of being too
heavy. A fuse is at the top, in — sensibly
— the most accessible place. The board is
connected to what in a mainframe com-
puter would be called a backplane, which
is in fact another printed-circuit board
with tracks on it to carry signals between
the main boards.
The next two boards look as though
they are used for power regulation and
clock generation. The five boards to the
right of the rack are the ones which con-
tain all the chips. The rightmost board
contains an 8085A processor in addition
to three PROMs.
The software supplied with the Alpha-
tronic will make or break the machine. If
it is good, Triumph-Adler can rest
assured its machine will sell. On the other
hand, if the software is bad, the machine
will plummet. This is a shame really
because it means that the eventual fate of
the machine is more or less out of the
hands of the designers. Triumph-Adler
made the right move in choosing the
CP/M operating system. However, the
vagaries of the machine mean that few if
any of its programs are portable.
Another factor affecting the philoso-
phy behind Triumph-Adler’s marketing
policy of selling to non-programmers is
that programming the Alphatronic is
extremely difficult — more difficult than
usual, that is. The software supplied has
been written by Microtrend, a British
company, and it works. The word-proces-
sing package Lexicom, will sell
moderately well. The main disadvantage
of the program was the awful shift-key
function on the Alphatronic.
The software took what seemed like an
eternity to load, so I decided the CP/M
implementation deserved some investiga-
tion. Most of the more common CP/M
commands did not appear to be there. Dir
resulted in the query Dir?
Lexicom is a sound software package. I
found it a far better word processor than
WordPro on the Pet, but then most are. If
it is typical of Triumph-Adler’s software,
it is satisfactory.
Conclusions
• The Alphatronic computer works as
well as any other in its field, even if it is
uninspiring.
• At around £1,600 for the pi version
without printer, and £2,345 for the p2
version which includes a printer and
CP/M, the Alphatronic is a good buy for
the first-time computer user; however, the
competition is hot.
• The software packages are again un-
inspiring but efficient enough.
• I am afraid I can do nothing but damn
the Alphatronic with faint praise, which is
a pity because it deserves better. Q
58
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
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60
• Circle No. 147
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
Review
Speech on demand
from Arfon module
Available as a plug-in unit, Arfon Electronics’ speech
board generates over 100 discrete words and sounds in
response to a simple numeric input from your micro.
Nick Laurie reports on its strengths and weaknesses.
THE ARFON speech board is designed to
the Nasbus 3 specification and will plug
straight into a Nascom bus or Gemini's 80
bus. An Apple version is also available at
the same price and it can be directly inter-
faced, at extra cost, to the Pet, Tandy and
Video Genie or any RS-232 line. More of
a digital tape recorder than a speech syn-
thesiser, it has a limited vocabulary and
consequently restricted usefulness.
Words and phrases are digitally
encoded into ROM together with the
electronics to play them out through the
on-board speaker. No system RAM
needs to be used. Based around National
Semiconductor's Digitalker speech syn-
thesis system, it is Z-80 port-addressed
via the bus. A numeric output to the
relevant port will give an instant output of
any one of the 143 pre-encoded sound
strings, and in this it is exactly like most
other products incorporating the NS chip
set. The difference lies in the fact that as a
single card it can be plugged into the 78-
way bus, where it is ready for immediate
use.
Pet, Tandy and RS-232 users have to
pay another £140 for the non-bus ver-
sion. Added to the £ 100-odd for the
board, almost £250 must be invested for
the privilege of hearing a rather croaky
American accent trying to speak a few
English phrases in a way that would not
do credit to a four-year-old's first reading
lesson.
Words are made up of a mixture of
clicks, hisses, silences and miscellaneous
other components known as phonemes.
By stringing together a scries of instruc-
tions concerning these phonemes it is
possible to produce a perfect represent-
ation of human speech. Even after
chopping out some of the redundant
information you are still left with accept-
able quality — the telephone does this to
us every day without any great loss of
intelligibility.
Do-nothing loop
The process can be further condensed
by replacing some of the standard cons-
tructs with a short length of code. For
example, a 30ms. silence need not use up
30ms. of memory space when a simple
do-nothing loop can be encoded in a few
bytes.
Using a combination of these techni-
ques, National Semiconductor takes a
high-quality tape recording of 150
phrases and feeds them through one of
their computers — in turn fed by its own
ultra-secret software — to produce a suit-
ably encoded ROM for use with the
Digitalker chip. Alternatively the chip-
set comes provided with NS’s own stan-
dard word set, which is what you acquire
with this board. Consequently you cannot
encode your own messages. Not only is
the encoding software a jealously-
guarded secret, but NS is inclined to be
vague as to even the guiding principles.
Arfon's board supplies the additional
clock, filters and amplifiers needed to
turn the NS chip set into a working pro-
duct. The company tells me that it has
sent the required high-quality tape off to
be encoded in the hope that a new and
more appropriate set of words will
become available in the near future.
A very good quality fibreglass PCB
carries everything required to produce
the speech and cannot be faulted from a
constructional point of view. The on-
board 42in. speaker has a tinny tone but a
jack socket allows you to by-pass it and
feed direct to a better-quality amplifier.
Although Arfon recommends this prac-
tice, claiming that the frequency limi-
tations of the on-board speaker does not
do full justice to the sound, my own
opinion is that it makes little difference.
The voice is so blatantly synthetic that the
loss of some more information makes no
real difference except to the volume. The
circuitry is more or less that suggested by
NS as being ideal for a full implementa-
tion of its chip set and has clearly been
carefully thought out and professionally
designed.
A product such as this, costing over
£100, should simply plug in and work. In
theory it does, but the practice was not
that simple. Out of its more-than-ade-
quate packing came the board, and into
the bus it went. On power-up, a roaring
50Hz hum drowned out all the speech and
rendered the computer room unoccupi-
able. This obviously was not meant to
happen, but transferring it into a second
Nascom produced exactly the same
results.
Some poking around revealed a lot of
noise on the 1 2-volt rail, which eventually
subsided when all the EPROMs were
removed from the system. Applying the
same cure to the first machine resulted in
no hum at all, and crisp, clear speech
which issued forth like a voice from the
gods.
Playing around was good fun, but with
all the EPROMs missing it was hard to get
a program wrapped around the speech
and was limited to direct port output com-
mands. With the EPROMs reinstalled,
back came the noise. Measurements
showed that the power supply was well
within its rating — the speech board only
draws 50mA — and it seemed to be time
to try out the Arfon customer servicing
department. The best it could manage
was “Well, it's never happened before."
and I was offered a new board.
It was clear that the noise was originat-
ing in the Nascom — what I wanted was a
way of stopping the speech board from
(continual on next page)
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
61
Review
Word
hex
dec
Word
hex dec
Word
hex dec
Word
hex
dec
Word
hex
dec
This is Digitalker
00
0
Thousand
ID
29
Again
3A
58
Gram
57
87
Out
74
116
One
01
1
Million
IE
30
Ampere
3B
59
Great
58
88
Over
75
117
Two
02
2
Zero
IF
31
And
3C
60
Greater
59
89
Parenthesis
76
118
Three
03
3
A
20
32
At
3D
61
Have
5A
90
Percent
77
119
Four
04
4
B
21
33
Cancel
3E
62
High
5B
91
Please
78
120
Five
05
5
C
22
34
Case
3F
63
Higher
7C
92
Plus
79
121
Six
06
6
D
23
35
Cent
40
64
Hour
5D
93
Point
7A
122
Seven
07
7
E
24
36
400Hz tone
41
65
In
5E
94
Pound
7B
123
Eight
08
8
F
25
37
80Hz tone
42
66
Inches
5F
95
Pulses
7C
124
Nine
09
9
G
26
38
20ms. silence
43
67
Is
60
96
Rate
7D
125
Ten
0A
10
H
27
39
40ms. silence
44
68
It
61
97
Re
7E
126
Eleven
0B
11
1
28
40
80ms. silence
45
69
Kilo
62
98
Ready
7F
127
Twelve
OC
12
J
29
41
160ms. silence
46
70
Left
63
99
Right
80
128
Thirteen
0D
13
K
2A
42
320ms. silence
47
71
Less
64
100
Ss
81
129
Fourteen
0E
14
L
2B
43
Centi
48
72
Lesser
65
101
Second
82
130
Fifteen
OF
15
M
2C
44
Check
49
73
Limit
66
102
Set
83
131
Sixteen
10
16
N
2D
45
Comma
4A
74
Low
67
103
Space
84
132
Seventeen
11
17
O
2E
46
Control
4B
75
Lower
68
104
Speed
85
133
Eighteen
12
18
P
2F
47
Danger
6C
76
Mark
69
105
Star
86
134
Nineteen
13
19
Q
30
48
Degree
4D
77
Meter
6A
106
Start
87
135
Twenty
14
20
R
31
49
Dollar
4E
78
Mile
6B
107
Stop
88
136
Thirty
15
21
S
32
50
Down
4F
79
Milli
6C
108
Than
89
137
Forty
16
22
T
33
51
Equal
50
80
Minus
6D
109
The
8A
138
Fifty
13
23
U
34
52
Error
51
81
Minute
6E
110
Time
8B
139
Sixty
18
24
V
35
53
Feet
52
82
Near
6F
111
Try
8C
140
Seventy
19
25
w
36
54
Flow
53
83
Number
70
112
Up
8D
141
Eighty
1 A
26
X
37
55
Fuel
54
84
Of
71
113
Volt
8E
142
Ninety
IB
27
Y
38
56
Gallon
55
85
Off
72
114
Weight
8F
143
Hundred
1C
28
z
39
57
Go
56
86
On
73
115
Table 1. National Semiconductor DT-1050 master word list.
( continued from previous page)
paying it such a great deal of attention.
I eventually disconnected the spare 12-
volt line from the board and ran in a spare
line from another source. Since overcom-
ing the setting-up problems the board has
stayed in place unobtrusively and has
functioned perfectly ever since.
Table 1 shows the 144 assorted cha-
racters and words available. You can try
sitting down with a pencil and paper to see
what you can do with them:
• Ss, 8 1 hex, makes any singular word plural.
• Silence periods, 43 to 47 hex, improve the
quality of speech phrasing. For words begin-
ning with the letters B, D, G, K, P and T insert
80ms. silence before the word; for words
ending in these letters insert 40ms.
• If a call is made to the speech card higher
than decimal 143, unintelligible invalid
speech will be output. Other speech ROMs
may allow calls higher than 143.
The sequence 40, 34, 52, 46, 88, 01 is
good for a laugh. Dollar, cent, parenthisis
and lesser all show this particular char-
acter set to be American in origin and
application, and experimental and
general purpose.
A phrase like “Your computer is on
fire” is not easy to achieve, but with a few
hours careful editing to pull useful bits out
of pre-existing words you might manage
it. So what about using the Arfon games
— an obvious home-computing applic-
ation? It could read out the score aloud
for you, though if you want it to say “one
hundred and eighty-three” rather than
“one-eight-three” you have to resort to
some nifty string manipulation first. It has
not got words like “win” or “lose”. By
structuring a game around the available
words you could probably build some-
thing that made reasonable use of the
sounds, but for home games its use is
minimal, bearing in mind the cost. Com-
mercial arcade games might find a use for
it, given an appropriate set of sounds.
As for industry, Lucas reckons that 90
percent of future Nascoms will be going
into industrial environments — largely
for process control. A machine that yells
“Stop — danger — Ampere — meter — is
— over — limit” at the right time could be
useful. In this environment it is quite
possible that the digital tape recorder can
serve a useful function.
Favourite application
My favourite potential application is
for a combined micro, speech board and
alpha-numeric display giving simple
speech facilities to the speechless. A
couple of days provided enough software
to point the way towards a hand-held box
capable of being used for artificial speech.
It was so simple that a few weeks develop-
ment on the hardware side should
actually be capable of producing a sale-
able product, although NS would have to
encode a new set of words. For coin-in-
the-slot machines providing service with a
smile — or at least an audible snigger —
try 46-46-46. Several general-purpose
consumer products are also a possibility.
The Arfon board is expensive for a
hobbyist, but it has a useful place in
opening up experimental possibilities.
With its current ROM set it has a vocabu-
lary which provides an interesting
demonstration of speech synthesis rather
than a useful addition to a computer
system. Talking computers will certainly
be part of everyday life in a few years and
this board is a good introduction to them,
but it would be a mistake to think that it
provides all the answers.
A true sound synthesiser, or even a
phoneme synthesiser, would produce far
more intelligible speech and a wider
range of responses, but at a software
overhead that could, for the time being,
prove time-consuming and costly. If
National Semiconductor was to reveal
something of the pre-processing require-
ments for producing coherent sounds
from the chip, then the users might be
able to make inroads into the program-
ming time by producing their own ROMs.
NS and Arfon might then sell more chips
and boards. For the present we are stuck
with a good idea looking for useful appli-
cations.
Conclusions
• As a research aid the Arfon speech
board has its uses, but as an everyday
addition to a computer system its value
depends on how.seriously you consider the
spending of up to £250.
• The board is technologically sound and
is well constructed, but the phrases cur-
rently available are of limited value.
• It plugs straight in for immediate use,
and works first time as long as your power
supply is providing noise-free DC volt-
ages.
• It could be used as a stand-alone,
switch-operated board.
• The basic board costs about £100; inter-
faces for Pet, Tandy and RS-232 cost ano-
ther £140 — all prices including VAT. No
extras are required, except an amplifier
and speaker for use in a noisy environ-
ment. m
62
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
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PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
63
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64
• Circle No. 150
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
~ Review
A high-resolution graphics add-on is put through its paces by Chris Malcolm, who
offers some advice on connecting it up and using it with your system.
IOSL graphics
for the Nascom
within the limitations of black and white
dots on a TV screen, the IOSL graphics
board offers about as high a resolution as
you can get. As well as being better than
most other TV-based high-resolution
systems, it is also unusually versatile and
cheap. Though designed as an add-on to
the Nascom 2. its intimate combination of
software and hardware is of general
applicability.
Every designer of a memory-mapped
screen faces the same problem: How do I
get the bytes from the memory map fed to
the screen at the right rate? Clearly, a
system is required to call consecutive
bytes from memory and feed them ulti-
mately to the video-shift register. This is
just the sort of thing which processor
chips do — and there is already a proces-
sor chip in the system. Unfortunately, the
processor on its own just cannot work fast
enough. It needs extra hardware
assistance, and there are some software
problems to be solved.
The silicon hardware designers are
solving their video-control problems by
putting ever more sophisticated video
controllers into chips. The trouble with
hardware is, of course, that it cannot give
The IOSL board, right, and the extra con-
nections needed to attach it to the under-
side of the Nascom memory board.
you more facilities than the designers
originally built in.
This limitation is removed in the IOSL
video driver, which combines the process-
or with software to give extra flexibility. It
allows you to change parameters and add
facilities, and if you have a special need
you can rewrite the driving software.
The IOSL board offers high-resolution
bit-mapped graphics. Each bit in a certain
block of memory is mapped to a particu-
lar point on the screen. The smallest point
that can be made on the screen is the size
of the dot of an *T\ If the bit is set. the
point is illuminated on the screen. A byte
containing 255 therefore appears as a
short horizontal line, eight dots long.
The board offers 384 horizontal points
by 224 vertical points, which is exactly the
same resolution as that used by the
Nascom 2 to draw its characters on the
screen. You can, therefore, invent your
own signs and symbols and mix them with
the original character set without any mis-
match in appearance. The original 1 K
memory map and the bit map can be
enabled separately or together, so that
you can mix ordinary text and bit-map
graphics quite freely.
The graphics board has to be physically
tied in to a particular 16K section of your
memory. Under software control, this
memory can be used for normal purposes
when not being used for a bit map. The
starting address and number of lines in
the map are software parameters which
allow you to scroll smoothly or switch
simply and quickly between different
maps.
A full 384 x 224 map requires 1 0.5 K of
memory. The 16K memory, allocated, to
the board allows you to hold two picture
areas, each of up to 384 x 170 lines. You
can draw in one while displaying the
other, and then make an instant switch.
A fully assembled and tested board
costs £63.25, including VAT at 15 per-
cent. It comes with cables and socket to
•patch it in — it requires connection to
both processor and memory board, type
A or 13 — and software routines on cas-
sette. The software can be used from
Basic or machine code to plot points,
draw lines and fill rectangles with pat-
terns. There is a demonstration program
and good documentation which includes
full installation instructions and
assembler listings of the routines.
The IOSL provides all the clarity and
resolution you could ask from a hobby
machine driving a TV, though there are
some snags. You have to do some delicate
soldering to the underside of the board or
the chip's legs. The board needs 20 con-
nections to the memory board and 10 to
the processor.
If you follow the manufacturer's
instructions you end up with the boards
wired together via the graphics connec-
tor. To avoid this, I introduced a separate
connector to the processor board.
Though this should not present a problem
to someone who has already soldered up a
Nascom 2 and made it work, it is not a job
for the beginner. It is rather untidy too,
but a plug-in board graphics facility
would be much more expensive.
The software uses interrupts, and
Nascom owners should all know about
the annoying bug in NasSys-1 which
makes it effectively non-interruptable. If
you have NasSys-1 you cannot plot from
Basic, and you must not use NasSvs rou-
tines in your own assembly or hex code.
If you have NasSys-3 you can use
NasSys routines and Basic without res-
triction. NasSys-3 is worth having any-
way, if only for the repeating keyboard
and character-display tabulator. The
routines are entirely self-contained, and
can be used with any software regime
which is interruptable, not just NasSys.
When the graphics display is enabled —
a software function — it uses up processor
power since the processor forms part oi
the video driver. A full-size display at lull
refresh rate uses 75 percent of the proces-
sor power, so other software runs at 25
percent of normal speed.
Processor power
The amount of processor power used
depends on both the size ot map being
displayed and the reiresh rate. At the
5()Hz maximum refresh rate the display is
solid and clear. At the optional 25Hz
refresh rate the picture is slightly dimmer,
and has a noticeable flicker. For some
reason the flicker is most objectionable it
there are large white areas on the screen,
though it is barely noticeable on sparse
drawings.
As the refresh rate and the size ot the
display are reduced, so is the amount of
processor power consumed:
Full size Half size .
50Hz 75 percent 33 percent
25Hz 33 percent 20 percent
Smaller displays consume even less.
When the display is not enabled there is
no overhead. Reset always disables the
graphics board. When speed is para-
mount, the display can be disabled or
switched to the 25Hz rate. You can draw
while the display is not enabled; you can,
for example, draw a complex game pic-
ture while a player is reading the instruc-
tions or entering the parameters.
If you want to move graphics on the
screen you need either carefully opti-
mised Basic or machine code. Fixed pic-
tures can be written to cassette in the
normal way and read in as part of the
program. You must disable interrupts or
Reset before using cassette I/O.
(continued on next page)
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
65
Review
(continued from previous page)
The board requires the Nascom 2 to
run at 4MHz. It is not affected by Wait
states, but you should alter a timing loop
if you run at 4MHz without Waits, as
indicated in the documentation. Other-
wise you will lose a few dots off the end of
a line.
Seven functions are provided by the
software:
Initialise hardware
Clear display
Set point
Unset point
Draw a line
Undraw a line
Fill a rectangle with a pattern
You can also add your own. Functions are
accessed by a jump table with space for
more entries. They are called as subrout-
ines from machine code, or as USR(n)
from Basic.
Additional functions
It is no more difficult to use the func-
tions than the Set/Reset of the standard
Nascom blot graphics. It is a pity there is
no facility corresponding to the Basic
Point
IF POINT(X.Y) THEN
but it is not hard to add it if required. It
could even be done in Basic by some such
command as
IF PEEK (START + Y* 48 + X/8) AND
(X-INT(X/8))* 8 < > 0 THEN ...
The IOSL exploits the Nascom system
clock which also provides the rate at
which the video-shift register is fed with
bytes. There is not enough time for the Z-
80 to fetch a byte and supply it to the shift
register. The shift register is fed at the
same rate as the Z-80 can execute a NOP
instruction when running at 4 MHz
without a Wait state. The board turns off
Waits when it needs to.
The processor is interrupted at the top
of the screen, finds out the start and size
of the bit map, synchronises itself to the
next horizontal line on the screen, enables
the board and starts to execute code at the
bit-map address. The Z-80 first reads the
instruction by putting up the address of
the byte, which causes the memory chips
to output the data to the data lines.
The IOSL board, which is patched into
the memory board, snitches the data, puts
it into its video-shilt register and puts a
zero byte out on the data highway. The Z-
80 innocently executes this NOP com-
mand and proceeds to the next instruc-
tion, and so the process continues.
The graphics board has also been
patched into the Nascom’s own video-
shift output. Depending on how it was
initialised by the processor via two port
bits, it either suppresses the ordinary
video output, substituting its own, or Ors
it with its own, allowing text and graphics
to be mixed.
The board lacks the capability to
choose between Oring orXOring the two
screen maps together. The XOr — exclu-
sive Or — would allow text to be written
over graphics without the risk of
obliterating some characters. A white let-
ter written over a white background
would make the letter turn black, in
reverse video. The eye is well able to read
letters presented in this way, even if
XOred with fairly complex graphic detail.
Adding this facility would provide the full
Nascom character set or any bit-mapped
graphics picture in reverse video.
Giving a choice between Oring orXOr-
ing the two maps I would always choose
XOr. Most graphics facilities do not allow
even an Or, due mainly to lack of compat-
ibility between dot sizes. The mixed text
and graphics provided by the IOSL board
allow the simple construction of very neat
tables and diagrams which would other-
wise be unobtainable.
One very important — and often
neglected — characteristic of graphics
facilities is whether or not they are
square. In other words, if you draw a
square 100 points by 100 points, does it
look like a square or is it a rectangle? Do
circles look like circles or ellipses? Fre-
quently you have to introduce a squaring-
up factor into your software, which is a
nuisance and slows down the speed at
which the software will run. If you are
using a TV as a monitor you may be able
to square up the graphics display by
adjusting the vertical size control.
Patching in
In my own Nascom the processor card
was mounted along the back of a Vcro
card cage, with the memory board at right
angles. The graphics board can be inte-
grated more neatly by sandwiching it
between the processor and memory
board, swinging the processor round to
the front and giving it a recessed socket.
One end of the graphics board is physi-
cally supported by the stiffness of the
wires connected to the socket. The other
end can then be supported by rubber
bands threaded through the holes and
attached to wire hooks clipped over an
extra set of card guides provided for the
purpose. A thin piece of foam insulates
the exposed undersides of the memory
and graphics boards.
To the newcomer, the possibilities of
high-resolution graphics are not imme-
diately obvious. As well as being much
more spacious than low-resolution gra-
phics, there is also considerable interest in
the way in which software can be genera-
lised and modularised.
A typical routine calculates the new
ordinate of a three-dimensional point and
its projection on to the X,Y of the screen
alter the axes have been moved and
rotated. A drawing of a solid object is
entirely made up from a number of points
joined by lines.
The picture of a ringed planet was con-
structed from one simple ellipse-drawing
routine. It was written in Basic without
any consideration for speed, and takes
over 10 minutes to draw. The routine has
to calculate the position of each point in
the picture. With 384 points in a line and
224 lines it is not surprising that the calcu-
lations take some time.
For most purposes, the degree of preci-
sion is quite excessive. To display pers-
pective views of alien spacecraft zooming
towards you requires assembly-language
software which has been carefully crafted
for speed. If the spaceship is a complex
drawing and the background is a few stars
you can do almost as well with shift
pointers to move the whole picture and
then move the stars back.
It can often be useful to mix two maps.
You can use Basic to move the ordinary
characters around against a background
ing. Only the starting and finishing posi-
tions need to be drawn on the bit map.
You can invent your own backdrop for
space invaders and load it separately from
cassette. Assembly-language routines for
drawing and undrawing shapes can be
called from Basic.
Graph paper can be drawn with the
rectilinear-drawing character set, allow-
ing bit-mapped graphs to be moved
around over it. By putting the ordinary
character set into the bit map, text can be
scrolled smoothly instead of jumping line
by line.
Part of the cost of commercially-avail-
able graphics systems is due to the very
fast, powerful processors needed to do
the necessary calculations in a reasonable
time. The speed limitations of an eight-bit
microprocessor are clearly felt. You can
use it to draw anything you like, though it
can be very slow. If you are prepared to be
clever in assembly language, the arcade
games show what kind of performance
you can aspire to.
Conclusions
• Supplier: IO Systems Ltd, 6 Laleham
Avenue, London NW7 3HL.
• The IOSL board provides a high-reso-
lution of 380 x 220, the same as that of the
standard character set. Horizontal and
vertical resolution is equal.
• The board’s graphics are usable in
combination with a standard display.
• The bit map is accessible directly in
memory space, or via drawing routines. It
uses 10. 5K of memory, but unused areas
of the bit map are free for other purposes.
• The IOSL graphics board has to be
patched in to the main memory and pro-
cessor boards.
• The board provides good-quality gra-
phics and is good value for money. Q
66
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
Software review
Menu-driven Mars is
designed to run
under CP/M. The
system majors on
the fact that, unlike
VisiCalc or
MicroModeller, you
are not obliged to
learn a series of
commands to
operate it. Peter
Wood examines its
features.
Financial modelling:
Mars plots the trends
Consolidated Forecast
OVERHEADS
1/3/82
TOTAL
QR1
QR2
0R3
QR4
Personnel Costs
321 Weekly wages
30,000
9,231
6,923
6,923
6,923
326 Pension
610
188
141
141
141
384 Prof services
Vehicle Costs
2,250
692
519
519
519
413 Vehicle deprec
2,500
769
577
577
577
451 Motor tax
70
22
16
16
16
452 Motor insurance
270
83
62
62
62
454 Accomodation
Various Costs
1,360
418
314
314
314
455 Post, tel, fares
1,360
418
314
314
314
456 Vehicle service
400
123
92
92
92
457 Fuel
1,280
394
295
295
295
458 Entertaining
200
62
46
46
46
459 Miscellaneous
720
222
166
166
166
TOTAL
41,020
12,622
9,466
9,466
9,466
Prepared by Chief Accountant for
Financial Director: all
figures in #000s
FINANCIAL MODELLING and planning is
fast becoming one of the most popular
applications for microcomputers. Diverse
companies, from multinationals to one-
man businesses, are trying their hands on
one system or another. VisiCalc has
become a firm favourite for its “instant”
re-calculation facility, and MicroModel-
ler for its ability to predict trends and
perform consolidation.
Now another package has been
launched, apparently to compete with
MicroModeller, on the CP/M system. The
Management Accounting and Reporting
System, Mars, has been developed in the
U.K. by Sapphire Systems of Benfleet,
Essex, and will run on Superbrain, North
Star Horizon, Rank Xerox 820 and Digit-
al Microsystems. The conversion for
Olympia and AI ABC is currently under
way and Sapphire says it will convert to
other machines if the market demands it.
Perhaps the major feature of Mars is that
it is menu-driven, supplying the user with
simple numbered options, as opposed to
the requirement of memorising a series of
commands such as in VisiCalc. This menu
facility must make the system very simple
to grasp, even for the first-time computer
user.
We tested Mars on a Superbrain with
700K of disc storage. Starting up the
system is straightforward. After switching
on the computer, you insert the Mars
system disc in drive A, and after a few
seconds the main menu is displayed. Four
options are offered:
• to run a job,
• to create or edit a job,
• to prepare a new disc
• to carry out disc maintenance.
I On some versions of the system a fifth
option is provided to allow configuration
of the printer ports, as on the Superbrain.
The system manipulates data in a
matrix format, effectively behaving like a
balance sheet, with each column and row
numbered. Before being able to do any
useful work, the user must configure job
files to tell the system how to set up this
balance sheet and how to print the
finished result. These jobs consist of four
sections accessed by the job editor which
is contained on a separate diskette:
• Job description sets out a few basic details
about the job; the name, of up to eight
characters; a slightly more lengthy and
informative textual description, of up to 24
characters; and the size limitations of the
reports to be generated.
• Matrix specifications defines the size of the
matrix and various sources from which raw
data is to come, whether manual input from
the keyboard, automatic input from a range
of data files, or a combination of the two.
• Calculation specifications defines the set of
calculations which are to be performed on
the data in order to produce the required set
of results.
• Report layout contains a full specification of
every aspect of the report format, indicating
how the pages are to be set out, which
information is to be printed, how it is to be
presented and where.
Once the job specification has been fully
defined, Mars can then be commanded to
carry out the job, by selecting option 1
from the main menu. There are a number
of steps involved in carrying out a job.
each of which is accessed again from a
menu. The five steps are:
• Keyed input. The most common way of
entering data into a modelling program is
via the keyboard. This section of the system
allows entry of new data, and examination
and alteration of existing data. Prompts are
supplied to the user in the form of the Row
and Column descriptions defined earlier in
the Job Editor.
• Input from files. After a job has been run for
the first time, it is possible to store the
information held in the program’s matrix as
a named file. This means that the same
data can be reused, or that data from one
matrix can be input to another matrix, as
might be required in consolidation. Data
can also be retrieved from files generated
by another program, such as a ledger
accounting system.
• Executing commands. Once data has been
entered in the array, calculations can be
performed upon it, either by executing the
calculations previously set up in the job
editor, or by manual entry of calculations
from the keyboard. The results are stored in
specific locations in the matrix, again
defined under the job editor. The feature
also displays any part of the matrix on the
screen to view, for instance, the results of
calculations.
• Printing the report. Having carried out all the
manipulation of data required and pro-
duced the necessary results of the calcula-
tions, the report may be printed. The layout
of the report will be as set out within the job
editor.
• Executing the whole job. Where a job
becomes a standard job, and the require-
ment exists to run it on a regular basis, this
option may be used. Input from files, execu-
tion and printing are performed in
sequence, so that the data is read in, calcu-
lations are made and the reports produced
entirely without operator intervention.
Mars revolves around disc files of
various types. Job files contain the speci-
fication for the job in question; data files
contain stored matrices or raw input data.
The system therefore provides for con-
siderable disc maintenance, including the
( continued on next page )
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
67
Software review
(continued from previous page)
preparation of diskettes for use as data
discs and the archiving and back-up of
data files from disc to disc. The archiving
facility could be particularly useful if
space is required on the normal working
discs, and some seldom-used jobs exist
that could be archived to make room for
new tasks.
A useful feature available when setting
up a new job is the ability to base it on any
existing jobs on file. If you are creating
your first job ever, and have nothing at all
to base it on. the system comes with a
default job already set up. 'This is a “stan-
dard" job, intended to act as basis for
future work you may wish to perform. It
has a matrix of 56 rows by 13 columns:
the rows are labelled “Row No. 1 ", “Row
No. 2" and so on, and the columns are
labelled from “January" to “December"
and “Annual Total". It is relatively sim-
ple to change these parameters, and the
monthly column headings may often be
suitable for financial work and obviate a
good deal of tedious typing.
After typing in the name of the job to
be created, and supplying the name of the
old job on which to base the new one, the
user is presented with a menu with four
options:
• to work on the job description
• to work on the matrix
• to work on the calculations
• to work on the report layout
The Return key terminates the editing
session and allows selection of:
• re-editing the current job,
• working on another job,
• abandoning and deleting the current job,
• returning to the main menu.
The job description option allows entry
of the job description and status — either
partially or fully defined — which deter-
mines whether or not the system will
allow execution of the job, and defines
the basic layout of the printed report.
The layout configuration includes the
number of columns per page; the length
of the row and column descriptions; the
default “picture" for amounts, which
specifies now many digits and decimal
places are allowed; and the page size,
which will depend on the type of printer
to be used.
There are five sub-options within the
matrix-specification option.
• to edit the matrix size for inspection or
alteration of the size of matrix required,
which may be expanded or contracted at
will;
• to Enable or Disable keyed input to the
columns, for specifying which columns will
accept manually keyed data;
• to enable or disable keyed input to the rows
for specifying which rows will accept
manually keyed data;
• set up source-file descriptions to name the
files that will provide automatic input of data
from disc;
• edit the keys for key-matched file input in
order to set up a sophisticated system of
controlling where the file-input data will be
placed within the matrix.
The matrix size can be as large as 4,000
elements in a 64 K machine, which should
be more than enough for most applica-
tions. If the size of the problem eventually
outgrows the matrix originally specified,
it is possible to expand up to this maxi-
mum at a future date without loss of data.
Contraction of the matrix is also allowed.
The system prompts the operator for the
rows or columns to be deleted as
required.
Keyed input is allowed to any column
or row the user chooses, and is signified
by a Yes if allowed or No if not. This level
of simplicity of operation is apparent
throughout the system and makes a wel-
come change from some of the more
obscure methods of other packages.
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File input may come from three types
of disc file:
• keyed-input files, which contain data taken
directly from the keyboard,
• saved-matrix files, which contain data from
a defined matrix and may include the
results of previous calculations
• other files, which will have been created by
some other package for input to the Mars
program.
The user specifies the type of file, which
may be:
K — keyed S — saved matrix
O — other .
A “K" file needs no further qualification
since the positions within the matrix for
the data have been previously defined
when it was keyed. An “S" file is slightly
more complex: the facility exists to tell
the system which columns or rows of the
saved matrix to read and where to insert
them within the current matrix, or to
consolidate the entire saved matrix into
the current tile. The u O" file option
allows the operator to specify the size and
position of particular fields within the
externally-produced file for input into the
matrix, along with the size, position and
content of a key field which is used to
select or reject records from the file.
T his whole procedure is complicated,
but it docs allow for very versatile opera-
tion. It is possible, for example, to search
a stock file and pick out the quantities,
selling and buying prices, and month-to-
date figures for a particular group of items
and bring those figures into play within
the matrix set up.
Once the basic data has been read into
the matrix, the next step in most applica-
tions is to perform a series of calculations
on the figures to produce a set of results.
The Mars calculation-specification op-
tion, assessed through the job editor is
used to enter the calculation set-up pro-
gram.
Calculations are entered line by line,
using a fairly sensible editor which allows
insertion and deletion of lines as well as
editing of characters within the lines. The
basic form of a calculation is:
Operator 1 Operand 1 Operator 2 Operand 2
Operator 3 Operand 3
An example of this would be
MULT R1 , 1-6 BY R2 GIVING R3
This means: starting with column 1, take
each successive element of row 1 : multi-
ply it by the corresponding element In row
2, and store the result in the same column
of row 3 and do this for all columns from 1
to 6.
The mathematical instructions avail-
able are
Add. Subtract, Multiply. Divide, Total, Move,
Assign, Percentage, Spread, Zero, Save,
Display, Calculate nett present value,
Calculate discount rate forcing nett present
value of cash flow to be zero. Calculate time to
recover initial investment, If conditional set,
Grow — extrapolate
File final set-up required is the report
layout, which is called from the job-editor
menu. Columns and rows may be titled,
and the operator may select which are to
be printed, and which are not. The for-
matting of the results may also be decided
at this point, defining the “picture" for
the figures — 99999.99 for example. It is
also possible to select underlining of
headings, underlining and overlining of
figures, and the general layout of each
line and the whole page.
Having used the job editor to set up all
the previous parameters, the run option is
selected from the main menu to execute
the job. After entering the date, and
selecting the specific job to be run, the
following options are displayed.
• Keyed input
• File input
• Execute commands
• Print report
• Execute complete job
The operator may now proceed to feed
data into the matrix, perform calculations
on it and produce the final printed report.
Data may come from the keyboard, from
files, or from a mixture of the two. Calcu-
lations may run automatically, or be
keyed in directly. In any case the results
will finally appear in the printed report,
which is the package’s main purpose.
Conclusions
• The menu-driven style of the package
was clear and easy to use.
• The manual was well written and easy
to follow.
• Calculations were a little slow at times,
but Sapphire claims to have speeded this
up considerably.
• The overall flexibility of the program
was good, allowing for most financial
requirements in a relatively simple
manner.
• The ability to both analyse existing data
and project trends is very powerful. Q
68
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
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STOP PRESS... NOW AVAILAB
BASIC COMPILER
PASCAL (CASSETTE BASED)
DOUBLE PRECISION DISC BAS
Since its introduction the Sharp MZ-80K has proved to be
one of the most successful and versatile microcomputer
systems around. Sharp now have a comprehensive range of
products ready to make the powerful MZ-80K with its
Printer and Disc Drives even more adaptable.
Products include: - Universal Interface Card, Machine
Language and Z-80 Assembler packages, CP/M* plus a
comprehensive range of software.
•Trade mark of Digital Research Ltd.
GET IT ALL HERE _
You'll find all the help and advice you need about the MZ-80K at your
Specialist Sharp Dealer in the list below.
If there is no dealer in your area, or if you require any further
information write to: - Computer Division, Sharp Electronics (UK) Ltd .,
Sharp House, Thorp Road, Newton Heath, Manchester M109BE.
AVON
BCG Computer Systems Ltd.,
BnstolTeL 0272 425338
Decimal Business M/Cs Ltd.,
Bnstol Tel: 0272 294591
BERKSHIRE
Computer 100,
Bray Tel: 0628 35619
Newbear Computing Store Ltd.,
Newbury Tel: 0635*30505
BIRMINGHAM
Camden Electronics,
Small Heath Tel: 021 773 8240
Electronic Business Systems Ltd.,
Birmingham Td: 021 384 2513
Jax Rest Ltd..
Birmingham Tel: 021 3284555
Newbear Computing Store Ltd.,
Ors Group Ltd.,
Warnngton Tel 092567411
Sumlock Software.
Warnngton Tel 0925 574593
CLEVELAND
Hunting Computer Services Ltd.,
Stockton-on-Tees Tel: 0642 769709
Intex Datalog Ltd.,
Stockton-on-Tees Tel: 0642 781193
DEVON
Plymouth Computers,
Plymouth Tel: 0752 23042
DUI
Birmingham B26.
Tel: 021 707 7'
17077170
BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
Curry's Microsystems.
High Wycombe Tel 0494 40262
Interface Components Ltd.,
,Amersham Tel: 02403 22307
CAMBRIDGE
The Avery Computing Co Ltd-
Bar H.II Tel: 0954 80991
CHESHIRE
Bellard Electronics Ltd..
Chester Tel: 0244 380123
Charlesworth of Crewe Ltd.,
Crewe Tel 027056342
Chandos Products.
New Mills Tel: New MJk 44344
CR Technical Services.
Chester Tel: 0244 317549
Fletcher Worthington Ltd.,
Hale. Tel- 061 9288928
Newbear Computing Store Ltd.,
Stockport W 061 4912290
URHAM
Neecos (DP) Ltd..
Darlington Tel: 032569540
ESSEX
Prorole Ltd.',
Westdiff-on-Sea Tel: 0702 335298
Wilding Office Equipment.
Hford Tel: 01 514 1525
GLOUCESTERSHIRE
Gloucestershire Shop
Equipment Ltd.,
Gloucester Tel 0452 36012
The Computer Shack,
Cheltenham Tel 0242 584343
HAMPSHIRE
Advanced Business Concepts.
New Milton Tel 0425618181
Xitan Systems Ltd.,
Southampton Tel: 0703 38740
HEREFORD
BMP,
Little Dewchurch Td 021 643 3832
HUMBERSIDE
Commercial Systems Ltd-
Hull Td 0482 20500
Silicon Chip Centre,
Grimsby Tel: 0472 45353
KENT
Technolink Europa Ltd.,
Tunbridge Wells Tel. 0892 32116
Video Services (Bromley) Ltd-
Bromley Td 014608833
LANCASHIRE
Nelson Computer Services,
Rawtenstall Tel: 0706 229125
Sumlta Electronics Ltd-
Preston Tel : 0772 51686
The Micro Chip Shop.
Blackpool Td: 0253 403122
LEICESTERSHIRE
Gilbert Computers,
LubenhamTd: 085865894
G.W. Cowling Ltd.,
Leicester Td 0533 553232
Leicester Computing Centre.
Leicester Td: 0533 556268
Mays Hi-Fi.
Leicester Td: 0533 22212
LINCOLNSHIRE
Howes Elect & Autom. Servs..
Lincoln Td 0522'32379
Z.R. Business Consultants,
Lincoln Tel: 0522 31621
LONDON
Bridgewater Accounting,
Whetstone. Td: 01 4460320
Butel-ComcoLtd..
Hendon Td. 01 202 0262
Central Calculators Ltd.,
London EC2 Td: 01 7295588
Deans,
London W8Td 01 937 78%
Digital Design and Development.
London WlTd 01387 7388
Euro-Cilc Ltd-
LondonEC2 Tel 017294555
Lion Computing Shops Ltd-
LondonWI Tel 016371601
Scope Ltd-
LondonEC2 Td 017293035
Sumlock Bondain Ltd.,
LondonECI Tel 01253 2447
MANCHESTER
The Byte Shop.
Manchester Ml Tel 061 2364737
Sumlock Electronic Services Ltd-
Manchester M3 Td: 061 834 4233
MERSEYSIDE
Microdigital Ltd..
Liverpool Td: 051 227 2535
NORFOLK
Sumlock Bondain (East Anglia)
Norwich Td: 0603 26259
NORTHAMPTONSHIRE
Computer Supermarket,
Corby Td: 0536662571
NORTHERN IRELAND
Bromac(UK).
Co Antnm Td 023831 3394
O & M Systems.
Bdfast.Td 0232 49440
NOTTINGHAMSHIRE
Mansfield Business M/C Ltd..
Mansfield Td: 0623 26610
OXFORDSHIRE
Oxford Computer Centre.
Oxford Td: 086545172
REPUBLIC OF IRELAND
O'Connor Computers Ltd..
Galway Tel: 000961173
Sharptext.
Dubkn 2.Td: 0001 764511
Tommorrows World Ltd..
Dublin 2 Td: 0001776861
SALOP
Computer Comer.
Shrewsbury Td: 0743 59788
SCOTLAND
A & G Knight,
Aberdeen Td 0224630526
Business and Electronics M/Cs,
Edinburgh Td 031 226 5454
Esco Computing Ltd.,
Glasgow Id 0412041811
Micro Centre,
Edinburgh Tel: 031 556 7354
Micro Change.
Glasgow Td 041 554 1462
Microforth.
Dunfermline Tel: 0383 34954
Moray Instruments Ltd.,
Elgin.Tel 0343 3747
Pointer Business Equipment Ltd.
Glasgow Td 041 332 3621
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Norset Office Supplies Ltd..
Cheddar Tel 0934 742184
STAFFORDSHIRE
W.B. Computer Services.
Cannock Td 0543 75555
SUFFOLK
CJ.R. Microtek Co.Ltd-
Ipswich Td 047350152
Surrey
SUSSEX
Crown Business Centre,
Eastbourne Td: 0323 639983
Gamer.
Bnghton Td: 0273 698424
M & H Office Equipment
Bnghton Td 0273697231
WALES
Limrose Electronics Ltd-
WrexhamTd 097 883 5555
Morriston Computer Centre,
Swansea Tel 0792 795817
Sigma Systems Ltd..
CardiffTd 0222 21515
WARWICKSHIRE
Business & Leisure
Microcomputers,
Kenilworth Td: 0926512127
. WILTSHIRE
Everyman Computers.
Westbury Tel 0373823764
YORKSHIRE
Bits & PC's
Wetherby Tel: 0937 63744
Datron Micro-Centre Ltd..
Sheffield Td 0742 585490
Huddersfield Computer Centre.
Huddersfield. Td 0484 20774
Omega,
Leeds.Td: 0532 704499
Ram Computer Services Ltd-
BradfordTd 0274 391166
Superior Systems Ltd-
ShefhddTd 0742 755005
3D Computers.
Surbiton Td: 01 3374317
Microlines Ltd-
Kmgston Td 015469944
Petal ect.
Woking Tel: 04862 69032
R.M.B.Ltd.,
Croydon Tel 016841134
Saradan Electronic Services,
WaHingtonTd 016699483
Also at selected Lasky’s and Wildings Office Equipment Branches
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
• Circle No. 151
69
* )
A 1
[T
BV71H
Don Thomasson presents a
program to calculate and
maintain records for sport
and business.
each year, a number of Formula One
motor races arc run as qualifying rounds
for the World Championship of Drivers.
There are as many as 1 7 races, and about
40 drivers, some of whom drive more
than one type of car during the season.
Before each race there arc practice ses-
sions, timed to a millisecond, and the
order in which the drivers line up on the
starting grid is determined by the best lap
times they set during practice, the fastest
of all being placed in “pole position” at
the front.
Because the lap distance for each race
is different, the bare times convey rela-
tively little. By calculating the times as
percentages in excess of “pole time” the
differences can be removed, and a useful
performance index can be derived. An
average for the whole season can then be
calculated to give an interesting and
illuminating indication of the merits of
individual drivers in terms of pure speed.
The fastest may not become champion,
perhaps because he performs unreliably
while a slower driver finishes more of his
races.
The Practice program uses MBasic and
is written for a system with at least one
disc drive, running under CP/M. It first
enquires whether a file of existing data is
to be read in. The answer will usually be
“Y”, except at the beginning of a season
when no data exists. Any other answer
causes the data arrays and the variables to
be reset by the routine starting at line
1790. This may be unnecessary, since
Run clears data in any case, but the
routine is required for other purposes and
it ensures that unwanted data is cleared.
Whether a file is read in or not, the year
must be input to form the heading of the
printout of results. It is also incorporated
into the file name, so that the data for any
given year can be pulled out at will. Each
year’s files occupy about 8K of disc space.
One file corresponds to the AA array,
which contains all the numeric data. The
second file relates to the arrays CB$ and
DB$ which hold the names of car-and-
driver combinations. They are read in by
lines 100 to 300.
Discs too slow
Next comes the main menu, lines 310
to 350, and then the modules which can
be called via the menu. The main entry
routine has its own menu and subsid-
iaries, and occupies lines 540 to 1130.
Lines 1140 to 1570 deal with printout;
lines 1580 to 1780 deal with the saving of
files and close functions, ending with exit
from the program; and lines 1790 to 1850
contain the clearance routine.
Consideration was originally given to a
scheme depending on random-access disc
files with a minimum of data held in
RAM. This proved to be too slow for
convenience, and a single two-dimen-
sional array was devised which could hold
all required data economically.
The data relating to the car-and-driver
combination given by the variables
CB$(ND),DB$(ND) is held in
AA(X.ND). If X = 0. the location is used
to mark off entry lines which have been
printed. For X = 1 to 20, practice time in
race number X is stored in terms of the
percentage by which it is greater than
pole-position time. AA(21,ND) holds
the number of races entered bv that ear-
and-driver combination, and
AA(22,ND) holds the total of the race
entries. AA(23,ND) holds the average of
the entries, calculated from the previous
two columns of the array.
The array row 0, i.e., AA(Y,0) holds
pole time for race Y if Y is between 1 and
20. AA(21,0) holds NM, the maximum
race number entered, and AA(22,0)
holds NT, the number of car-and-driver
combinations entered. AA(0,0) and
AA(0,23) are spare.
Although there is no clear indication
that it is permissible, the use of assembled
file names presents no problems if it is
approached with caution. The use of the
MID$ function in line 70 is essential. It
removes spaces before and after the year
number in string form, trimming the file
name to eight characters. A space in a file
name has odd consequences, since CP/M
and MBasic interpret it differently.
The process of opening and reading the
files is straightforward in essentials, but
70
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
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Records
(continued from previous page)
line 560. There is no provision for deleting or
correcting pole times, as this would render
all other entries for the race invalid. A change
can only be made by dropping out of the
program, setting TD and AA(NR,0) to zero,
and then erasing and re-entering all the data
for that race.
T nnn allows the number nnn to be
entered as a pole time by routine 860 to
9 1 0. if no pole time exists, or as a basis for
a percentage entry calculated by the
routine starting at 980. It might be advis-
able to add line 985:
IF AA(NR,ND)t* 0 THEN PRINT "Entry Exists”:
GOTO 570
so avoiding a false increment of
AA(21,ND) and calculation of an incor-
rect average.
The entry process is convenient in
practice, and detects most errors, the
commonest being the input of an incor-
rect time through forgetting to add the
minutes to the seconds. Th$ report
“Error. Too small” warns of this.
The printout routine is written for an
Epson MX-80, and some controls may
need to be modified for other printers.
CHR$( 1 5) sets condensed type, 1 32 cha-
racters per line. CHR$(14) sets 66 cha-
racters per line for one line at a time, and
is used to output the heading, including
the year input at the start of the program.
The race numbers are printed out by
lines 1200 to 1230, and the individual
entry lines can now be handled. The first
step is to set all the AA(0,X) entries to
zero — lines 1250 to 1270 — and set
G= 10,000.
The averages in the last column of the
data array, AA(23,X), are than checked.
Whenever one is found that is lower than
G. G is set from it and L is set from X. On
completion of the For loop in lines 1290
to 1330, G contains the lowest average,
and L contains the reference to the car-
and-driver combination concerned and
the associated data. A A(0,L) is set to 1 to
indicate that the line of output for that
entry is being printed, and it is ignored in
further executions of the For loop.
This works well in practice, and is cer-
tainly simpler than some abortive
schemes which were tried, such as an
attempt to sort the complete lines into an
order of merit.
The actual numeric output is handled
by lines 1490 to 1570, which produce a
tight four-character format including a
decimal point. For results up to 9.99, two
decimal places are used. If the result is
greater, one decimal point is accurate
enough. When there is no entry at all, line
1 390 prints , and for entries of
1,000 line 1380 prints Pole.
The routine for restoring data files is
simple, and needs no protection against
arrors. NT and NM are saved in
AA(22,0) and AA(21,0) respectively
before the saving process begins. After
Close and Reset a display of Okay tells
the operator he can remove his disc. Q
(listing continued from previous page)
1020 P=INT ( lOOOtP) : P=P/ lOOO
1030 AA (NR, ND) =P
1040 AA (21 , ND) =AA <21 , ND) +1
1050 A A (22, ND) =AA (22, ND) +P
1060 AA ( 23 , ND ) = AA ( 22 , ND ) / AA (21, ND)
1070 GOTO 570
1080 IF AA (21 , ND) =0 THEN PRINT "No entry to remove. " : GOTO 570°
1090 AA (21, ND ) = AA (21, ND ) - 1
1 100 AA ( 22 , ND ) = AA ( 22 , ND ) - AA ( NR , ND )
1110 AA (NR, ND) =0
1120 AA ( 23 , ND ) = AA ( 22 , ND ) /AA(21,ND)
1130 GOTO 570
1140 REM Printout
1150 LPRINT CHRS<15)
1160 LPRINT CHRS (14) YR"WORLD DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP"
1170 LPRINT CHRS (14)" PRACTICE TIME PERCENTAGE TABLES"
1180 LPR I NT : LPR I NT
1190 LPRINT TAB (27) " " ;
1200 FOR X=1 TO NM
1210 IF X<10 THEN LPRINT "
1220 LPRINT X" ";
1230 NEXT X
1240 LPR I NT: LPR I NT
1250 FOR X=1 TO NT
1260 A A (O, X ) =0
1270 NEXT X
1280 G= 10000
1290 FOR X=1 TO NT
1300 IF AA (23, X ) >G OR AA(0,X)=1 THEN 1330
1310 G=AA (23, X )
1320 L=X
1330 NEXT X
1340 IF G= 10000 THEN 310
1350 A A ( 0 , L ) = 1
1360 LPRINT DBS (L) TAB (14) CBS <L) TAB (28) "
1370 FOR X=1 TO NM
1380 IF AA ( X , L ) = 1 000 THEN LPR I NT "POLE" GOTO 1420
1390 IF AA(X,L)=0 THEN LPRINT" " ; : GOTO 1420
1400 P=AA < X , L)
1410 GOSUB 1490
1420 LPRINT "
1430 NEXT X
1440 P=AA <23, L )
1450 LPRINT "
1460 GOSUB 1490
1470 LPRINT
1480 GOTO 1280
1490 IF P<10 THEN R=1 ELSE R=2
1500 IF R=2 THEN P=P/10
1510 FOR Y=1 TO 3
1520 Q=INT (P)
1530 P= (P— Q) $10
1540 LPRINT CHRS (Q+48) ;
1550 IF Y=R THEN LPRINT
1560 NEXT Y
1570 RETURN
1580 AA (21,0) =NM : AA ( 22 , O ) =NT
1590 INPUT "File disc in posi t i on" ; ZS
1600 IF ZS< >" Y" THEN 310
1610 OPEN "O" , #1 ,PS
1620 X=0
1630 Y=0
1640 PR I NT # 1 , AA < Y , X )
1650 Y=Y+1
1660 IF Y<25 THEN 1640
1670 X=X+1
1680 IF X<NT+1 THEN 1630
1690 OPEN "0" , 42, NS
1700 X= 1
1710 PRINT#2, DBS ( X )
1720 PRINT#2, CBS ( X )
1730 X=X+1
1740 IF X<NT+1 THEN 1710
1750 CLOSE
1760 RESET
1770 PRINT "OKAY"
1780 END
1790 FOR X= 0 TO NT
1800 FOR Y=0 TO 24
1810 AA ( Y, X ) =0
1820 NEXT Y, X
1830 NM=0
1840 NT=0
1850 GOTO 310
72
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
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the controller’s interrupt capability and macro
level command structure and the OEM version
features a simple software interface and CP/M
2.2 BIOS with extensive development aids. The
software comes on either 5 Va" or S' diskettes
together with Boot PROMs.
HAL Computers Limited
Invincible Road,Farnborough
Hants. GUM 7QU
Telephone 0252 51717!
Service and Support
If you are impressed w >th the
specifications so far, Were is more to
come. Our packaged sub-systems are
assembled in-house and they carry a
full one year parts and labour warranty. Our
controllers are built completely from TTL logic —
there are no- fancy chips — so we can fix them if
they ever break down. Dozens of floppy disc drives
go through our workshops every month and we are
well known within the industry both for our
training courses and our heavy investment in
computer based disc test equipment. If your
Winchester ever stops working you can depend
on us to fix it.
V/
VECTOR
PRICE
' Real vector plotting from only £690* with the
new Strobe Model 100 drum-type plotter. * High
resolution — 0.1mm at 7.6cm/sec * A4 paper capacity
_ * Off-the-shelf felt tip pens plot in most colours * Precise
operator controls and interactive input of coordinates * Hardware
^ interfaces for TRS-80, Apple II, Pet, S-100 * Applications software packages
providing vector plotting and variable size alphanumerics for TRS-80 Level II BASIC,
^ Applesoft BASIC, North Star BASIC, C BASIC, Microsoft BASIC and FORTRAN.
Telephone Farnborough 517171 for free brochure and more details.
‘Unit price for plotter ex-delivery and ex-VAT.
HAL Computers Limited
Invincible Road,Farnbomugh
Hants. GUM 7QU.
Telephone 0252 517171
,ai
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
• Circle No. 152
73
HOW TO GET MORE FROM
YOUR MICRO
CP/M* Courses for
micro computer users
OBJECTIVES
To familiarise the new user with the operation of the typical hardware
attached to a disc-based Z80 microprocessor system.
To give the user an understanding of the facilities available in the
operating system CP/M, of its management of disc files, and qf its
adaption to different hardware configurations.
To give the user hands-on experience which enables this knowledge
to be put to practical use.
To acquaint the user with the range of programming languages and
packages which are compatible with CP/M.
Programming in Basic
OBJECTIVES
To give the student a thorough understanding of the BASIC language.
To enable the student to put the knowledge gained into practical use,
facilitated by hands-on sessions and practical exercises.
Programming in CIS Cobol**
OBJECTIVES
To give a sound knowledge of the Ansi 74 Cobol programming
language, highlighting differences between various dialects
particularly CIS Cobol.
To provide an understanding of structured programming techniques
as used in CIS Cobol.
Programming in PASCAL
OBJECTIVES
To provide an understanding of structured programming techniques
as used in PASCAL.
To give a thorough knowledge of the PASCAL programming
language.
To provide practical experience in using PASCAL on a
microcomputer.
CONTACT:
The Courses Secretary,
Computer Training & Education Centre Ltd,
102-108 Clerkenwell Road,
London EC1. 01-251 4010.
•CP/M is the T/M of Digital Research Corp.
+ Wordstar is the T/M of Micropro International Corp.
••CIS Cobol is the T/M of Microfocus.
A ‘must’ for Micro Users.
Learn how to get the most
out of your system.
Wordstar t
Wordprocessing
OBJECTIVES
To give the user an understanding of the facilities available in the
Wordstar/Mailmerge Wordprocessing System.
To give the user hands-on experience which enables this knowledge
to be put to practical use.
INTRODUCING
COMPUTERS
A series of 1-day courses
for businessmen
AN INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTERS
MANAGING COMPUTERS IN YOUR
BUSINESS
MANAGING WORD PROCESSING IN
YOUR BUSINESS
(Course fees include lunch)
A wide range of hardware is available for practical work.
0EC
A professional organisation with first
class training facilities in central London.
Please send me further information on the above courses
Name
Position
Company
Address
74
• Circle No. 153
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
■Art
Brian Reffin Smith of London’s Royal College of Art introduces the first
of our regular features devoted to microcomputer-based art and design.
He explains the essentials of graphics and animation and offers stimulat-
ing ideas to set you exploring the possibilities of this brand-new medium.
VISUAL COMMUNICATION
welcome to Practical Computing's new
arts pages. I shall be writing regularly
about computers in art and design, and
as well as explaining, informing and
showing new ideas and techniques, I will
be encouraging micro users up and
down the land to become involved with
graphics.
We have to try and push forward the
frontiers of what we can do with our
machines. Your brilliant ideas, cunning
routines and your most outlandish and
bizarre concepts will play an important
part. There will be a regular competition
with wonderful prizes, fame, fortune
and so on.
Computer solutions
I run a computer studio where post-
graduate artists and designers come
along with an extraordinary range of
problems, which they think might have
computer solutions. We are nearly
always able to help. Since we are
entirely microcomputer-based you can
do what we can do — and I fully expect
that you will be telling me how to do it
better.
As well as competitions, there will be
programs and routines, examples of
computer use in art and design, photo-
graphs, plots and so on. There will be all
the news about graphics that is useful
and fit to print.
This issue also sees the start of
“Beginning Graphics” — which will go
on to show that computer graphics is not
difficult, and can be powerful and fun.
Then there will be what 1 have called —
for want of a better name — the “Ana-
logy Box”. Some of the most powerful
ideas seem to emerge from asking
“What if . . .”? questions, where you
take a program or a process from one
context, force it into another and see
what happens.
Perhaps you arc wondering “Why all
this emphasis on graphics? Surely it is
just a rather superficial aspect of ‘real’
computing.” I firmly believe that the
answer is “No”. The world we live in,
the environment, is changing into an
“information environment”. It is not
just the solid lumps of information that
matter, but also electronic
communication and visual information
technology.
Who are going to be the designers, the
artists, the architects of this new envi-
ronment? Is it just like dealing with the
old one? I think not, and we who presu-
mably care about what might be called
“soft computing” — the human use of
computers, not just number-crunching
— must become the new artists and
designers of the information environ-
ment and even its poets, musicians and
writers.
Vital contribution
The danger is that the field will be left
open to computer people who think that
“art” is just random squiggles, and
design is just moving a 3-D shape
around on a screen. Both of these activi-
ties are a start: but I hope it will become
clear why I say as often and as loudly as
possible that computer art is mostly
nonsense.
In these pages we have to come up
with graphics, artwork and designs that
stand up on their own merits, and not
just because they have been done on a
computer. Your contributions will play
a vital part in developing this new
medium.
Incidentally, I detest the phrase
“computer art”. It has come to mean
“something that no-one would look at
twice if it had been done with a pencil,
but it was done with a computer and
isn’t that amazing”! So we need a new
term. Maybe we should just talk about
“art” or “design” that happens to have
been done with a computer. Any better
offers? Q
From bits to
bright dots
Two fundamental programs
illustrate the essence of
beginning graphics.
1 WANT to discuss the rock-bottom basis of
graphics. It is a good place to start, and it
might do me and you a bit of good, to
think about it at that level to begin with.
Different people have different
machines, and so I will be using examples
that are as general as possible. In months
to come, the programming will be based
largely around the BBC Micro, for which
I wrote some of the graphics programs,
but I will always try to make clear what
you can do on other systems.
What is graphics, and how can we
begin? Combining the ancient skills of
graphics with information technology,
computer graphics is essentially about
making marks, usually on paper or
screen, but sometimes on film or video-
tape.
Computers are simply machines that
“do things to stuff” — “information pro-
cessors”, in more scientific terms. Stuff —
information — goes in, is acted upon
according to a program of instructions,
and can come out in a completely dif-
Figure 1. The brightness of each pixel is
governed by numerical information held in
each memory location.
ferent form. This is the absolute key to
what graphics is about.
From the simplest pattern of dots on a
screen, to a full-colour, moving, three-
dimensional image, the output device is
showing us, in a visual form, information
that is contained in the computer in sym-
bolic form. Change the symbols, and you
change the outward appearance.
Most computers devote some of their
memory to looking after each individual
pixel — the smallest picture element —
on the screen. Figure 1 shows the rela-
tionship: depending on the information
stored in the memory location, the pixel
can be On or Off, or maybe of an inter-
mediate tone — grey or coloured.
The computer just passes this informa-
tion regularly to the TV or monitor. It
strings all the fragments together in a
video signal so that they affect the correct
place on the screen. The beam of elec-
trons in the TV tube dims and brightens as
it scans across the phosphor coating.
I would like you to do the simplest
graphic exercise possible. Use your
machine if you have one, otherwise you
(continued on next page)
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
75
Routine A.
Type in two whole, smallish numbers and use
them to print a + sign on the screen, e.g., in
Basic:
100 PRINT “ENTER 2 NUMBERS”;
110 INPUT X,Y
120 FOR I 1 TO X
130 PRINT
140 NEXT I
150 FOR J = 1 TO Y
160 PRINT” ”;
170 NEXT J
180 PRINT ”4-”
190 END
Two fundamental graphics routines.
Routine B.
Enter graphics mode if necessary on your
machine. Enter two numbers, and use them
to light up a pixel, e.g., in Basic:
100 PRINT “ENTER 2 NUMBERS”;
110 INPUT X,Y
120 REM: USE ‘PLOT, ‘SET, OR
WHATEVER YOUR MACHINE NEEDS
TO PLOT A POINT
130 PLOT (X,Y)
140 END
(continued from previous page)
can work it out on squared paper. You
may or may not have graphics commands
available. If not, use routine A, otherwise
routine B. These routines are terribly
simple, but they should help you to look
at graphics in a new way.
These simple programs represent the
basis of all computer graphics. You have
symbolically represented an image in the
computer with your X and Y; then you
made it visible.
While the image is defined in this way
— logically, or numerically — you can
store it, manipulate it, ask questions
about it and present it. Very complex
images may require correspondingly
complex ways of representing the data,
but the principle is just the same.
Finally, here is a mental exercise.
Imagine a photograph of a friend, stored I
in the computer as a series of pieces of
data in the form (X,Y,B) where X and Y
represent the position of each tiny portion
of the photo in turn, and B is the bright-
ness of that point with, say, zero
representing black and 10 representing
white, the rest greys in between. Feed that
out on the screen, and there’s your friend.
Now suppose you take each point, and
make its brightness equal to the dif-
ference between it and the preceding
point. You do this to each point in turn,
scanning across the image a row at a time.
When these numbers are fed out to the
screen, what will the picture look like?
Try drawing it, because computer
graphics is about graphics as much as
computers. Q
ANALOGY BOX
In-betweening involves changing
one image into another, in a number
of steps. What would the equivalent
be, using words and their meaning
instead of lines? Through what
space would the words "move”?
Moving images
step by step
The algorithm for a changing
shape can be described by the
term “in-between”.
stemming from animation techniques,
the ability to change one shape into ano-
ther is also of more general interest.
Although at least four full-length feature
films are in production in the United
States using computer graphics, “rear’
computer animation, with full-colour 3-D
characters moving around, is at the fron-
tier of what is possible with computers
because the computer needs to know so
much about the real world, and the way
people — for instance — move in it.
Very simple in-betweening is still poss-
ible, and has its own technical advant-
ages: the way images change depends on
the order in which you enter the points.
Here is the algorithm in words:
Enter a series of points (X,Y) which, when
joined together, outline the first image. Do
the same for the second image.
Decide how many in-between steps you want
to use.
Then draw conceptual straight lines between
each point on the first image and each point
on the second. For simplicity, each should
have the same number of points.
Now simply divide each "line” into six if you
want six in-betweens, 1 0 if you want 1 0, etc.
Then join up each of these points to get the in-
between.
The listing gives a version for the
Research Machines 380-Z with high-
resolution graphics. You can use any
machine with graphics, even low-resolu-
tion. I have shown a really simple in-
between, to illustrate the principle. . Q
Changing shape with two in-between steps.
100 CLEAR0 : CALL" RESOLUTION” ,0,2
110 REMINDER - THAT JUST SETS UP THE 380Z
120 INPUT" NO. OF POINTS (10 OR LESS)";P
130 FORI =1T02:?" IMAGE " ; I : FOR NA=1 TO P
1A0 ? " POINT ";NA;: INPUT X( l , NA) , Y( I , NA)
150 NEXT NA : NEXT I
160 NA=NA-1
170 I NPUT" How many steps (10 OR LESS)" ;S: IF S>10 THEN 170
180 FOR 1=1 TO S : FOR F=0 TO I- 1 : ST=ST+1/S : NEXT
190 FOR J=1 TO NA
200 I FJ= 1 THEN G$="PLOT" ELSE G$="LINE"
210 CALLGS, X( 1 , J )+( ST* ( X( 2 , J )-X( 1 , J ) ) ) , Y( 1 , J ) + ( ST* ( Y( 2 , J )-Y( 1 , J ) ) ) , 3
220 REMARKABLY EASY ON OTHER MACH I NES- JUST PLOT (IF J=l) OR DRAW A LINE (IF J>1)
USING THE ABOVE VALUES.
230 REMISS OF ME NOT TO STATE THAT THE '3' AT THE END OF 210 GIVES THE COLOUR.
240 NEXTJ : ST=0 : NEXTI
Competition
THE WINNER of this month’s £5
will be the reader whp submits the
best program or artwork based on
a For-Next loop. Repetition with
a difference is what we are looking
for.
Send your entry — which cannot
be returned, so keep a copy if you
like it — to Art, Practical Comput-
ing, Room L306, Quadrant
House, The Quadrant, Sutton.
Surrey SM2 5 AS. □
76
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
— Operating systems ~""
Since it first appeared on the market over seven years ago, CP/M has generated an
enormous body of machine-independent software. Now the arrival of 16-bit micros,
promising higher speeds and a huge address space, has cast doubt on its prospects. Chris
Bidmead was at the CP/M User Group meeting to find out what the future may hold.
CP/M faces the
bigger crunch
the heavy splendour of its Polynesian
decor makes the Mayfair Hotel’s Beach-
comber Bar an alarming place to be at
nine o’clock on a crisp London morning.
Hardly where you would expect to run
into a serious-minded computer user, let
alone a convention of them. But last
October 27, some 180 CP/M User Group
members, conversationally subdued by
the time of day or the prospect of spend-
ing the next eight hours huddled together
over the eccentricities of their chosen
operating system, were beginning to line
up for coffee and registration.
As we filed into the small Mayfair
Theatre next door, rumours were harden-
ing that Gary Kildall was not, after all,
going to be moving among us that day.
Back in 1973, Kildall, one-time consult-
ant to Intel during the development of the
8080 chip, had offered that corporation
an early draft of something he had
knocked up in his spare time called a
Control Program for Microprocessors.
Intel declined to back him, so in true
Californian tradition Kildall went on to
build the project into a business of his
own. It is now called Digital Research,
and is turning over some $12 million a
year.
Kildall’s absence was confirmed by
CP/M User Group Chairman, David
Powys-Lybbe, as he stepped on to the
bare stage to make the opening
announcement.
Presentations by individuals formed
the body of the morning’s business. The
User Group’s magazine editor Andrew
Clarke’s introductory discourse on his
own Reclaim program — donated to the
User Group library, and so free to
members — and Powys-Lybbe’s explora-
tion of CP/M file handling that followed,
started the morning with a high tone of
enthusiasm and expertise not entirely
echoed by the quiet audience.
Standard language
We were subsequently introduced to
Mumps under CP/M, by American expat-
riate John J Althouse, of SMS Europe
Ltd. “Mumps” certainly sounds better
than Massachusetts General Hospital
Utility Multi-Programming System, and
it sounded better still after Althouse’s
short tour of the facilities offered by this
ANSI standard language, which includes
a built-in database and heavy emphasis
on string-handling. Best of all, Mumps is
free to serious users, the test of your
seriousness being whether you regard the
£50 post and packing as petty cash.
At least two of the short addresses on
aspects of CP/M that morning turned out
to be scarcely-disguised plugs for the
speaker’s own commercial product, stir-
ring up a few rustles of discontent among
the pinstripes and denims that packed the
plush seats. I talked to David Powys-
Lybbe about this at lunch. As tickets for
the day were between £25 and £50 per
head, obviously his members had not
turned up just for this.
Over the top
David Powys-Lybbe agreed. “But it’s
not easy to draw the line. Yes, at least one
of the presentations this morning was a bit
over the top as a plug, and on the whole
this isn’t meant to be a platform for com-
mercial products. Except for CP/M itself,
of course”.
He was referring to the main business
of the afternoon, a parade of Digital
Research’s marketing plans for the imme-
diate future, with particular reference to
CP/M 3, whose appearance on the market
was rumoured imminent earlier this year.
This the users would sit up for.
There are two main schools of thought
about the next step. For one convinced
eight-bitter I talked to over lunch the
prognosis was simple. “Take your aver-
age, bog-standard, state-of-the-art 1981,
8085, eight-bit machine with a mini-
Winnie providing 5Mbyte of backing
store. It runs WordStar, Cobol and you
name it. It’s simple and reliable. Show me
your latest all-singing, all-dancing 16-bit
MegaMonster, and I ask you: where’s the
support? where’s the software? and any-
way, who needs it”? For him the next step
is the addition of a higher capacity mini-
Winnie, networking and perhaps banking
out the operating system to give a full 64K
of user area.
The theory goes, however, that the
introduction of the 16-bit micros will
have a domino effect on the business
community, as users realise their faithful
old eight-bit machines look quaint by
comparison. Professor Martin Healey
spent the early part of the afternoon pur-
suing this theme of the upward path
towards the bigger crunch. “Today’s idea
of putting more than one user on an eight-
bit micro is just plain daft. If you try
sharing a processor without providing a
properly protected environment you’re
inviting disaster”.
Memory segmentation, file-locking
and limitation of the instruction set so
that one of the users cannot bring every-
body else to a halt all are essential. What*
did this say about Digital Research's
efforts to rebuild MP/M II from the ashes
of MP/M I, the multi-user operating
system that flopped because of its slug-
gishness, and because users could crash
each other’s files?
“MP/M II is OK, as long as you don’t
try running it as a multi-user system. If
you’ve got to go multi-user, then hook it
on to a network”. Healey saw networked
single-users as the simplest way of
implementing the sort of protected envir-
onment he was insisting on, and CP/Net
could provide this.
So 16 bits were also going to be essen-
tial. “A business system needs a database.
If you add a database to an eight-bit
operating system the first thing you find is
you’ve run out of room to put your appli-
cations programs; 16-bit machines aren’t
about speed — what they give you is lots
of memory. And that does something else
for you: it gets you away from time-wast-
ing code-optimising exercises and lets you
write programs in a proper reliable — and
maintainable — high-level language”.
Unless the world recession gets very
much worse, Martin Healey and the 16-
bitters may well be right about the future.
Digital Research seems to think so and is
making a major effort to carry over CP/M
on to the 16-bit scene. John Katsaros
introduced the meeting to their philo-
sophy: “We’re going for the next genera-
tion of machines with two main products,
CP/M-86 and MP/M-86. We’re bringing
them out for the 8086 because of our past
association with Intel, and because we
prefer it to the Zilog 8000 or the
Motorola 68000”.
This was bland Californian marketing
talk in comparison to Martin .Healey on
why he was steering his own firm, Future
(continued on next page)
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
i
77
Operating systems
(continued from previous page)
Technology in the direction of the 8086.
In Healey’s view: “The software scene for
the 8086 is pretty dreadful, but for the Z-
8000 and the 68000 it's a complete and
utter disaster”.
For Katsaros, the 8086 “offered a
natural upgrade” from the 8080, despite
what some regard as the superior
number-crunching and address capability
of the Motorola chip. To some extent
Digital Research’s bet on the 8086 will be
a self-fulfilling prophesy, in that it natur-
ally much enhances the market chances
for the hardware/software combination.
This may leave Zilog out in the cold: an
odd situation, asZilog’s Z-80 upgrade of
the 8080 is currently outselling Intel by a
ratio of three to two.
No competition
CP/M captured the eight-bit market
with virtually no competition, but this
next step will bring them face to face with
Unix, the ten-year-old product of Bell
Laboratories, now also poised for the 16-
bit market.
John Katsaros did not agree that the
two systems were in competition: “Unix is
a great operating system for the scientific
community, and it’s got the sort of flexibi-
lity you need for program development.
What it isn't good at is supporting
business applications. Unix likes small
files. It isn’t going to be too friendly
towards databases of eight megabytes and
upwards, which is the sort of thing you’re
seeing increasingly on the new business
micros. If you need to develop programs
as well as run a business what we say to
you is go buy two operating systems. If
you just want to stick to business, buy CP/
M-86 — it’s cheaper and it’s better”.
Katsaros had begun his presentation
with a slide-show introduction to the
growth of Digital Research, the centre-
piece of which was a shot of the potting
shed at the bottom of the garden where
young Gary Kildall first assembled the
code for CP/M 1.0. Katsaros moved
amiably on through the line of products
that were in the offing, notably — now
that Digital Research has bought out
Software Systems — a true compiler ver-
sion of CBasic. The audience began to
shift in their seats again, and an aggrieved
interrogator voiced the question that was
forming in everybody’s mind: “What
about CP/M 3”? ’
Symbol of severance
It was a good question. The users were
being shown the future, and it came in the
size of 16 bits. The one thing it did not
seem to contain was CP/M as they knew
it. Symbolic of its severance. Digital
Research was demolishing the “hot line”
on which troubled users could ring in their
queries direct. Was there not going to be
an upgrade of the old eiijht-bit CP/M at
all?
John Katsaros' reply was affirmative:
“We do have a third-generation eight-bit
CP/M under development right now, and
I guess it will be with you around Spring of
1982”. He was reluctant to comment on
its features, except to say that it would not
be any bigger than the present eight to
nine K. “I can say that CP/M 3 is defined,
although we are definitely still in listening
mode if anyone has any ideas about what
the system should do that it isn’t doing
already. Other than that, we are not talk-
ing to anybody about CP/M 3. Thank you
for your question”.
The warm protest that followed per-
suaded the Digital Research team to field
Bob Eichenlaub, their technical manager.
Labouring under a bad dose of laryngitis,
but happily for the users seeming to share
none of Katsaros’ coyness about CP/M 3,
Eichenlaub was wired to a microphone so
that he could croak out some of the early
details.
Like MP/M II, CP/M 3 is to have
enhanced file handling, including pass-
word protection and file locking, with file
size and time and date stamping as part of
the directory display. The security-
conscious, by the way, should not take the
password business too seriously. For rea-
sons of compatibility, files secured under
CP/M 3 could always be opened and read
under CP/M 2.2, so this will be no more
than a deterrent to casual curiosity.
Eichenlaub promised that the Submit
facility would be improved to the point
where it could be regarded as a rudiment-
ary job-control language, and there
would be a limited implementation of
foreground/background tasking, making
possible file-sharing between CP/M
systems.
Single users
Many single users working with Win-
chester drives like to organise their files
into groups with CP/M’s user number
multi-level filing, but find this often
means having to duplicate system files
like Pip and Stat. In common with MP/M,
CP/M 3 will solve this problem by allow-
ing access from any user level to any Sys
file in User Zero.
The best news for software authors is
that CP/M 3 will be meeting them more
than half-way over the problem of inter-
facing to the baffling variety of consoles
now hooked into CP/M systems. Rather
as the Bios currently interfaces the real
hardware to the theoretical machine envi-
ronment of CP/M, so will CP/M 3’s
console-control block enable authors of
portable software to address a theoretical
console, leaving the problem of screen-
control mechanics and keyboard entry to
be coped with by a once-and-for-all hard-
ware-dependent patch.
Eichenlaub's revelations saved the day
for many of the conference attenders,
who had begun to wonder what the User
Group meeting was supposed to be about.
But software deadlines have long been
notorious fictions, and as the users filed
off to the bar for “one for the road” there
was an air of scepticism about whether the
promised Spring offering would appear
on time.
There the conference ended; but for
Practical Computing there is a coda. I
included myself in the crush around the
table on stage where the Digital Research
team was allowing us to leaf through their
new range of manuals “to see for our-
selves how much more user-friendly they
are” and found myself being invited to
breakfast by John Katsaros.
At eight o’clock next morning we were
munching toast and marmalade in the
baronial surrounding of the Piccadilly
Hotel breakfast room. When an English-
man buys you a meal you don’t find out
why until the liqueurs; but Californians
pitch right in with the first glass of orange
juice. Katsaros was buying Practical
Computing breakfast because he “recog-
nises the crucial need to open up a new
dialogue with the Press as Digital
Research moves into its next phase of
operations”.
The real test
Gary Kildall got rich by getting lucky.
Writing CP/M was, as is the way with
programming, mostly a matter of pure
slog. The smart thing he did was to start
selling it cheaply enough for a large
number of people to buy. And it was
certainly smart to stay in the saddle as the
corporation grew to its present size.
But the real test is just beginning. The
diversion into marketing programming
languages that ride on the operating
system — CBasic, PL/1 and, shortly,
Pascal — is really only a support for the
main sales thrust of bringing CP/M-86 to
the world business market and making
sure it sticks. If it does. Digital Research
will be up there with IBM. If it does not,
the pace of hardware development will
not allow Kildall a second bite of the
cherry. IBM, or Bell, or perhaps even the
Japanese will step smartly into the
breach.
John Katsaros buys you breakfast
because he is a civilised, sociable sort of
chap. But he is also doing the best he can
to make sure you like CP/M-86 and go his
route when the bigger crunch hits your
business.
Promising future
The future looks promising for CP/M,
and Digital Research is certainly backing
initial good luck with a lot of hard work.
The PL/1-80, for example, is not being
marketed as just another computing lan-
guage: the company is offering indepen-
dent programmers who use the language
worldwide support in selling the applica-
tion systems that result.
I like the operating system, I like the
company, and I think they’ll make it. But
if I am wrong, John Katsaros may w'ell be
joining Gary Kildall back in that potting
shed. [T|
78
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
~ Education
A grant from the Microelectronics Education Programme has enabled Tim Scratcherd
and Ian Smith to take time off from their normal teaching to develop software for use in
the classroom. Together with Russell Langham, Senior Education Advisor for Dur-
ham County Council, they describe the work they are doing at Branksome School,
Darlington, including a remedial English program and a class exercise in typing.
Clarity is all
for school
computing
ORDINARY TEACHERS’ attitudes are
among the most important factors which
are restricting the effective use of small
computers in the classroom. Uninformed
opinion varies from mild disregard for
toys to alarm at the prospect of being
replaced by a machine. Most of the cur-
rent offerings in the field of educational
software do little to alter these opinions.
Much software demands some program-
ming knowledge, both to fix it when it
fails to work and to understand what it
does when it is operating. Hardly any can
be used successfully and reliably by
teachers who are not computing special-
ists. Our aim has been to work in partner-
ship with teaching colleagues to produce
programs which can be used bv non-
specialists to make their teaching more
effective.
Getting a program running in a com-
puter need be no harder than setting up a
projector to show a film. Teachers who
wish to use a computer have to learn this
procedure, and they very often also have
to move to a special computer room or
transport the computer to a classroom.
The computer must do something which
teachers find difficult or impossible to do
any other way in order to justify the extra
effort involved in setting it up.
Whatever advantage the program pro-
vides, it must be robust, clear and as easy
to use as possible. Programming conve-
nience must be sacrificed to user conve-
nience. A balance needs to be struck
between clarity, function and ease of use;
in particular, keystrokes should be apt
and comprehensive and they should be
kept to a minimum. The important fea-
tures to maintain are program flow and
avoidance of frustration. It is better to
have a program description which is not
part of the program itself, so documenta-
tion is required.
Documentation should include the
usual listing, variables list and flowchart if
necessary. However, these aspects are of
no importance to the teacher; it is the
teachers' notes which should be empha-
sised. They ought to form an integral part
of the program, and include at least des-
criptions of what the program does, why it
does it, and how the teacher should go
about getting the program to do its job.
Teachers’ notes will often include sug-
gested approaches, with examples and
sample data.
Programs and documentation should
be an integral part of teachers' approach
to the teaching of their subject, not used
simply for variety or novelty. We have
found that the most effective way to
achieve this is to involve the teacher in all
stages of program development, from the
initial conception of the idea to a good
working result. Program development
should include a long dialogue between
programmer and teacher so that the suit-
ably of inputs, kind of presentation and
relevance and effectiveness can be con-
tinually checked and modified. In later
stages of development, testing of the pro-
gram in class use is absolutely necessary.
One effect of this is that programs come
to be regarded not as “finished”, but as
“working” — there is always something
else that a program could do. For exam-
ple, when a printer becomes available, the
program could be modified to produce
hard-copy results. Another effect is that
teachers become more aware of what a
computer can and cannot do. They will
often think of other applications of the
computer within their subject, even
though these will have less immediate
advantage.
The two programs which we describe
have been developed in this manner.
They are both comparatively straight-
forward and short; neither of them is mathe-
matical or scientific; and both confer a
practical advantage. One is for use by
individual children, the other is to be used
by a whole class at a time.
The Speed Reading program was deve-
loped for use in the remedial English
department. It presents a passage of prose
to a child a few lines at a time. The child
then reads them. After a preset time, the
lines are replaced by the following lines,
and so on.
After the passage has been read, the
child leaves the computer to answer a
comprehension test. The length of time
the child spends reading the passage is
recorded by the computer. The teacher is
provided with two pieces of information:
the time taken, and the results of the
comprehension.
After loading a prepared passage from
tape, the teacher selects the number of
lines to be visible at a time, and the length
of time the lines remain visible. Each
child first sees a moving display, the
“Branksome Bookworm”. This is not
entirely for fun, but aims to personalise
the program. The child must write in his
or her name before being presented with
the reading passage. A child who reads
the lines before they are replaced has the
option of pressing any key to see the next
lines.
When the child has finished, the
teacher has the option of calling the next
child to the machine or calling a list of
times for all children who have used the
program so far. The immediate and
obvious advantage is clearly in the timing
of the program.
The program may be used diagnosti-
cally, to determine children’s natural
reading rate. In this mode the teacher
should set a very long time for each set of
lines to remain on the screen, effectively
giving complete control of the reading
rate to the child. A short reading time and
weak comprehension indicate that the
child tries to read too fast. The program
may also be used therapeutically: the
teacher sets a line delay which is just too
(continued on next page)
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Education
tions as a normal typewriter: that is, shift
is required for capitals. This feature, and
the "Branksome Bookworm”, are com-
mon to all the remedial English programs
we are developing.
The teacher needs a way of preparing
and using a large number of different
passages. To this end, a program which
Speed Reading program.
Line
number
Comment
80 to 130
Data is loaded from tape as
the array P$().
131 to 138
Each element of the array is
rebuilt with the dummy
characters plus, 43, and
asterisk, 42, being replaced
by comma, 44, and double
quotes, 34.
150 to 190
Teacher sets delay D and
number of lines visible L.
A child who requires
instructions will see the
Branksome Bookworm
340 to 375
Bookworm out of ground.
380 to 440
Bookworm traverses leaving
title.
450 to 480
Bookworm into ground.
540 to 630
Print book.
640 to 680
Input child's name from
subroutine at line 1300 and
save it in the array C$(). M
counts the number of children.
720 to 850
Instructions.
870
N is the counter for the printed
P$(). T is the starting time
marker.
910
H is set to 1 if a delay is
encountered: this is to ensure
that if the number of lines
visible does not exactly divide
the total number of lines to be
printed there will still be a
delay after the last line.
900
If the number of lines printed
so far is not divisible by L then
there is no delay.
920
P is set by Tl and D to the
increment of Tl which will give
the correct delay.
1020 to 104C
i The delay will continue until
either the child hits a key — AS
O — or the time is up — Tl P.
i. 1050
The time taken by the child is
saved in the array C(). C$()
and C () allow for up to 21
children to use the program.
1080 tol 140
The teacher may repeat for
the next child or see the time
taken by all children who have
used the program.
1150 to 1200
Children’s names and times
are displayed.
1210 to 1260
The program may be ended or
rerun.
1300
This is the input routine for
children’s names. It is very
similar to that used in the
Create File program except
that here there is no check on
line length and only letters and
spaces are accepted.
To modify for
new ROM, change these lines
to:
1400 IF A 64 AND A 91 THEN 1450
1410 IF A 192 AND A 219 THEN 1450
creates a data file on tape accompanies
the main program. It allows teachers to
prepare a library on tape of passages of
different kinds.
The advantages of this approach to
data storage is that data preparation can
be done at any time, does not have to be
repeated and does not require the teacher
to be a programmer. The input to the
Create File program is organised so that
the keyboard functions as a typewriter,
and there are checks on line length and
line total. Exceeding the line length does
not lose the whole line; though it is shor-
tened to the last complete word.
There is room for 50 lines, but a smaller
number can be used by inserting End$ as
the last line. When the data is complete,
any of the lines can be amended, though
you cannot insert or delete lines. Provi-
sion has been made for the passage to
contain a full range of punctuation which
can be stored on tape, including the awk-
ward comma and double quote.
The One Minute Exercise program was
developed for use in the commerce
department. The program prints out a
passage one character at a time. It is
watched by a class of typists, who type
each character as it appears.
Touch-typing practice
The teacher initially selects by number
the passage to be attempted. Since the
passages are short, they are contained
within the program as data, making the
program self-contained. The teacher then
selects the delay, in tenths of a second,
between the appearance of each char-
acter, and the number of times the com-
plete passage is to appear. Finally, the
teacher may opt to terminate the printing
after exactly one minute.
Before the program is run, the class
must be told to ignore anything which
appears in black on white, rather than
white on black. The program uses black
on white to signal to the students when
the passage is about to start, when to
begin a new line and when the passage is
complete.
An important advantage of these mess-
ages is that while the students are watch-
ing the passage being printed, they are not
watching their fingers. The program may
be used at first to accustom beginners not
to look at their fingers. It can then be used
to encourage speed, and lastly to give
practice at typing for one minute.
The One Minute Exercise program is
written for a standard 8K new-ROM Pet.
It requires an interface to as large a stan-
dard TV as possible, so that the whole
class may see the passage. Data is stored
in double quotes so that the only punctua-
tion not normally available is the double
quote itself. It can be obtained by a simi-
lar device to the one used in the Speed
Reading program. One weakness is that
the maximum line length of the standard
Pet is 40 characters, an untypically short
line length in typewriting — the cure is
clearly an 80-column Pet.
(continued on next page)
Create File program.
Line
number Comment
70 to 330 The general input routine for a
string. B$ is the output; R is
the line-length counter; A$ is
the single-character input; A is
the ASCII code of each input
character.
The subroutine works as follows; a string is
built up one character at a time using Get.
The output string B$ is formed by adding
each input character on to it to permit all
punctuation characters to be in the string.
Each letter character is changed from upper
to lower case, and vice versa, to make the
old-ROM Pet
writer.
keyboard function as a type-
100
Ignores return, 13, or delete,
20, if the output string is null.
Thus the line cannot be
deleted past its starting point.
112
Prints a delete.
114
Deletes a one-character
output string.
120
Deletes the end character
from the output string.
140
Checks the end of string.
160
Checks that the output string
is not longer than 39
characters.
190 to 230
Finds the last space in the
string and shortens it to there.
250
Changes upper case to lower
case.
260
300
560 to 610
610
630 to 700
1070
1090 to 1200
1210 to 1310
1400 to 1460
1526 to 1528
1550 to 1620
1650 to 1690
Changes lower case to upper
case.
The character is printed and
added on to the string.
The lines are inputted as the
array P$().
Checks that less than 49 lines
are entered.
The last line may be altered if
a data check is requested.
T is the number of sets of 1 0s
in the lines.
The lines are printed in sets of
10 and may be modified.
The remaining lines are
checked.
The line-replacement
subroutine. Now the array
P$() is modified so that it can
be saved on tape.
Old-ROM software patches.
Each element of the array is
taken and rebuilt.
Troublesome characters are
the comma, 44, and the
double quote, 34. When these
are encountered they are
replaced in the string by the
plus, 43, and the asterisk, 42.
The rebuilt string is then
written on to tape.
Old-ROM software patch. To
modify for new ROM, miss out
the software patches and
change line 250 to 250 Goto
300.
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
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(dtiod snoiABud tuouf panuuuoo)
Education
*20 wtot-go
*30 A-VHL- £:* •
c-io ifa: 0hnpm;*them*70
G0SUB490
**0 0010560
0.-0 RESTORE
060 B-l
*90 JFN-BTH£k6O0
roe rendn*
710 !FAS«*EHDS"THEM730
720 G0T07C0
730 B-B»l
.-40 GOTO*9U
-:oe b-i
6*0 |FF»<B>»-ENPI"TMEN350
630 B*B»1
640 G0T0610
350 PRINT rPJlifTME PCL6V TENTHS OF ft SECOND •
i*0 COSUB ScO
870 G0SU8425
360 IFCOITHEM90O
390 G0TC>350
9O0 I'»VhL' I *
-10 IFI<: 0THEN340
.-CO GOSUB490
330 G0T0850
-40 PRINT PP|MT“THE »Mt£ER OF REFEHTS"**.
One Minute Exercise.
Line
number
Comment
10 to 310
Four data passages, each
320 to 420
terminated by the marker
End$.
The general input string
425 to 500
routine. It is very similar to
those in the other programs,
but being for new ROM does
not require upper/lower case
reversal. B$ is the output.
A subroutine which checks
670 to 740
that any string input to it as B$
contains only numeric
characters. 6=1 when this is
not satisfied.
The selected data passage is
800 to 840
found by counting the end of
passage markers.
Then it is read into the
850 to 930
array P$().
The delay is found as D —
940 to 1020
sixtieths of a second.
The number of repeats is R.
1 080 to 1 090 When F= 1 the printing of the
data passage will end after
one minute.
1125 to 1285 This is the repeats-loop.
1135 T1 is used to time a minute. FI
is used to exit the loop after a
minute, if that is required.
1 140 to 1280 This is the passage loop with
counter I. B is the number of
lines of the passage.
1 180 to 1260 The loop to print each line,
with counter J.
1190 to 1200 T2 is used to time the delay
between printing each
character.
1210 Checks after each character
whether a minute is up.
1240 FI and I are set to terminate
the loop if required.
1271 to 1277 The "new line” marker is
printed and left for three times
the character delay, then
blanked and the print position
restored to the correct line.
00 GOSUB32U
9*0 G03UB425
3.-0 I Ft; 1 THEII990
3 0 GOTOiMO
*90 R-VHL* Bt >
tOOO IFF OTHCNI03©
1010 GOSUB490
1020 0010340
1030 F-PINT FRlNT"FtEMS£ ENTER V OF N
I >.*40 PftlWPO VOU WISH THE PASSAGE TO END AFTER A MINUTE'
I050 G0SUB320
10*0 l FBI = ''N M 0FBI THEN 1060
lO.'O GOTO 1 040
1080 F«0
10?O IFBf »“V“TH£ nFs1
1100 PRINT FR1MT"PRESS ft MV 1 EV TO BEGIN. "
1110 GET HI IFHI-""THEN1110
1 125 F0PG-1T0P
1 1C'- FF'INT "."J313TART JNG
1123 FORI -1 TO30OO NEXT
1 1 29 FPINT"T
1130 F0R» = 1 T 02000 NEXT
1135. T 1 =T I FI-0
1140 F0FI-1T0B
1150 IFPl< I >0 "END* "THEN 1 168
11*0 I-B
1170 GOTO 1260
1160 F0RJ= 1 TOLEN<P*< I ) >
1190 T2=TI
1200 IFTKT2*DTMEN1200
1210 IFTJ-TI93599ANDF-1THEN1240
1220 PRINTMID»<P*(I>.J.1>.
1230 GOTO 12*0
1240 PRINT PRINT PRINT" JDNE MINUTE IS UP.»" Fl-1
1250 .l=LEN<PKI>> I-B
12*0 NEXTJ
1270 PRINT IFF1-1THEN1280
1271 PPINTSPCiJ-2-">-9-
1272 FORT * 1 T03
1273 T2-TI
1274 IFTKT2*DTHEN1274
1275 NEXTK
127* PRINT “TSPCC J _ 2T* "
1277 FR'INT-TT
1260 MEXTI
1263 PRINT PRINT
1284 FORK- 1 TO300O NEXT
1285 NEXTG
1290 PRINT PRINT" SFINISHED. PRESS ANV FEV.H*
1300 GETA* IFmI«""THEN1 300
1310 PRINT-.T
1320 FRINT-PLEHSE ENTER
1330 PRINT
1340 PRINT" 1. TO RERUN THE PROGRAM MS IT IS"
1350 PRINT" 2. TO RESET THE BEL MV HND REPEATS"
13*0 PRINT- 3. TO ST MPT THE FPOGRHM MGMIN"
1370 PRINT- 4. TO END THE PROGRAM."
1380 PRINT FRINT-NHHT IS VOUR CHOICE"*-.
1390 GO SUB 320
MOO CO SUB 425
1410 IFC :: 1THENI430
1420 GOTO 1380
1430 M-VML'BI-
1440 IFM30MNDM.5THEN147O
1450 G0SUB490
14*0 GOTO1380
1470 C41HGOTO1480. 1490. 1500-1510
1480 GOTOI100
1490 PRINT-.T GOT 0850
1500 RUN
1510 PRINT" SCVE'*- END
READV.
□
*
HIE TRANSFEC 1200
VIDEO MONITOR.
At last, a top quality green
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competitive price.
The Transtec 1200 has a
composite video input, compatible
with all micro computers and the
screen gives a crisp read-out of a full
80 columns.
The unit is housed in a durable
plastic cabinet with controls neatly
concealed behind a hinged front-
access panel.
Why pay more? Send the
coupon today for full specification
or better still, call us direct in Bristol.
JUST £99 complete: .*?
•X" Vat. postage and packing not included
• Circle No. 154
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
We proudly announce the arrival of
the computer-frame
you have been waiting for
A new Europe-PAL microcomputer frame.
NOW AVAILABLE £995 excluding VAT
— large amount of compatible software already available
— interactive cards, firmware & hardware available everywhere
— 14 I/O expansion slots as standard
— screen size: 24 lines of 40 characters, Upper and Lower case with
optional card expansion to 24 lines of 80 characters.
— 32k byte of RAM standard, on board expandable to 96k byte
— uses the popular 6502 CPU
— bus compatible with the Z80 Firmware Card with CP/M and
Microsoft BASIC
— Programming languages including BASIC, Fortran and Cobol etc.,
are available separately
— full PAL-colour video supplied as standard with sound through TV
— professional keyboard with function keys and number pad
— Character set with 255 characters in reprogrammable
EPROM, delivered standard with Upper and Lower Case
characters, Greek and pseudo graphics, and a jumper
selectable choise of QWERTY or AZERTY
— For optional extra's such as an EPROM-programmer,
microphone, joystick etc., there is a special lid beside
the keyboard for user hardware
— A sturdy, light weight four-piece moulded case of strong
polyurethane in two colours beige/black.
DEALER INQUIRIES INVITED
VERGECOURT LTD. 17 Nobel Square, Basildon Essex SS 13 1LP England TeL 0268 - 728484 Tlx. 995323
Snlia Di cl-rib* n fvvre
— Languages”—”
Argument over the merits of Basic and its rivals continues to rage with this reply
to the assertion that structured languages are leaving “primitive” Basic behind.
Who needs Comal?
Drunken Duncan.
10 RANDOM i DEF I NT A-Z : CLS: DUNCAN=167: HDME*191 1 HERE*15872: NRTH=-64
i EAST-1 : SUTH-64: WEST—1 : SPACE*32’ *** (HERE) is Duncan’s Position
on fcrttn ***
20 HOUSE** STRING*(3, 191 )+CHR*(26)+STRING*(3, 24) -*-STRING*< 3, 191):
ADDRESS-412 * *** This is Duncan’s house & the address of house
on screen ***
30 PRINTS ADDRESS, HOUSE*: POKE HERE, DUNCAN
40 POKE HERE, SPACE: DIRECT=RND(4) ’ *** Find random direction ***
50 IF DIRECT*! AND HERE) 15423 THEN HERE=HERE+NRTH ELSE IF DIRECT
-2 AND HERE <18383 THEN HERE=HERE+EAST ELSE IF DIRECT=3 AND HERE <
18320 THEN HE RE=HERE+SUTH ELSE IF DIRECT-4 AND HERE) 15360 HERE=H
ERE+WEST
60 IF PEEK ( HERE) <> HOME THEN POKE HERE, DUNCAN : PRINT 3 145, "DRUNKE
N DUNCAN STAGGERS HOME" : STAGGERS=STAGGERS+1 : GOTO 40 ELSE PRINT 3
597, "DUNCAN’S GOT HOME !
HE MADE "STAGGERS" STAGGERING STEPS
SNZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
70 GOTO70
Drunken Duncan — compressed version.
10 RANDOM: DEF I NT A-Z : CLS: DU=167 : HO=l 91 : HE=1 5872 : N0=-64 : EA=1 : SU=64
: WE— 1 : SP=32: PRINT34 12, STRING* (3, 191 ) +CHR*(2B) +STRING*(3, 24)+5TR
I NG* (3, 191)
20 DI=RND(4) : POKEHE, SP: I FDI = 1 ANDHE) 1 5423THENHE=HE+N0ELSEIFDI =2AN
DHE < 1 63B3THENHE=HE+EAELSE I FD I =3 ANDHE < 1 6320THENHE=HE+SUELSE I FD I =4
ANDHE) 1 5360HE=HE+WE
30 IF PEEK (HE) <) HOTHENPOKEHE, DU : ST =ST+1 : PR I NTS 145, "DRUNKEN DUNCAN
STAGGERS HOME" : GOTO20ELSEPRINT3597, "DUNCAN’ S GOT HOME !
HE MADE "ST" STAGGERING STEPS
SNZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
40 GOTO40
one OF the advantages of being a primi-
tive is that you are oblivious to the sophis-
ticated arguments of people who are
trying to con you. It seems to us primitives
that those who advocate Comal are
resorting to just such arguments.
In Basic, we have the use of an easily
understandable, and remarkably efficient
tool to eliminate the drudgery of machine
code. By contrast, Comal is too full of
complexities and too difficult to learn to
be of any real benefit. What is more, when
the pro-Comal elite start denigrating
Basic in order to extol the virtues of their
own pet language, they rarely show the
rigmarole of subroutines, etc. that are
needed to complete their little examples.
I would like to throw out a challenge to
the Comalites in the form of a Basic pro-
gram for the Drunken Duncan problem
by Raymond Fox
described bv Roy Atherton in the June
1981 Practical Computing. Although of
little consequence in itself, the program is
short and sweet and its limited operations
still make up a complete, fully-working
program that can be directly compared
with comparable programs in other lan-
guages.
The issue seems to be that Basic is
difficult to read and therefore, by exten-
sion, difficult to write. To disprove this 1
have spent an enjoyable hour working on
Drunken Duncan. . I used a slightly
expanded, but otherwise perfectly normal
Basic entry.
The variables are defined using full
words except where to do so would co-
incide with Basic reserved words. For
example North would be read as N OrTh,
and South as S Out H, so they have been
abbreviated into understandable com-
promises. Given a little information that
is individual to the Tandy level II com-
puter, the result is easily readable and
understandable by any beginner who can
read English.
The Tandy screen is divided into 1 ,024
positions held in 1 6 lines of 64 characters.
The program has avoided the use of the
Set or Plot facilities. When using Print 2,
these individual points on screen are
pointed to by counting from 0 to 1023
from top left to bottom right. Since Pokes
change memory locations, they start at
top left with 15360, and end at bottom
right with 16383.
All Tandy screen locations are sub-
divided into six pixels, and Print. Poke, or
<4 • Circle No. 155
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
Peck can access these using a CHR$ code.
In this program only the full graphic block
191, and the graphics character 1 67, used
for Drunken Duncan himself, are brought
into use. The house is built up using
strings of full graphic blocks and cursor
movements. CHR$(26) moves the cursor
down, and string (3,24) shifts it back
three spaces.
Blessing in disguise
After variables in lines 10 and 20 are
initialised, the flow drops without halt
into the loop, from which it falls out natur-
ally when Duncan staggers indoors
There is only one Goto in the whole
program, apart from the infinite loop used
at end to prevent the Basic “ Ready?”
prompt spoiling the final screen display.
As you become accustomed to using
Basic, it can be as easily written without
the need for such clarity, though it is not
so easy to decipher. This is a blessing in
disguise, as it does make life more diffi-
cult for pirates who alter text in order to
claim authorship.
The advantages of compressing text in
large programs are enormous. Speed is
increased, though this is largely a factor of
good structure, and memory savings of 50
percent are easily made. To illustrate this
point I have included exactly the same
program in compressed form. It uses only
413 "bytes as against the original version's
764: the original version requires 85 per-
cent more memory than the compressed
version merely to hold Basic text. It could
be further reduced by 38 bytes, by using
single-character variables to lower text
demands to 313 bytes.
The direction lines contain movement
limiters to ensure that poor old Duncan
does not step off the top or bottom of the
screen and wander into the no-man's-
land of memory, never to be seen again.
So what about it, you advocates of
Pascal and Comal? Can you produce a full
working program for Drunken Duncan
which is equally economical to answer
the challenge of my Basic program? We
primitives would be happy to be shown
the error of our simple ways. Q
85
Friendly reflections
Demple winced. Inside was a flat plas-
tic gadget about the size of a hardback
book. It was featureless but for half-a-
dozen push-buttons and a perforated
grille on top. With it came a MicroChum
Instruction Manual. He laid them side by
side on the stained table: the manual was,
if anything, a little thicker than the
machine.
Demple was hardly overjoyed. Micro-
computers didn’t impress him. If he had
been told that a new pocket calculator
contained all the books in the British
Museum Library, it would have left him
cold.
T he MicroChum had one inviting
green On button that begged to be
pushed and, despite himself, Demple
pushed it. A small clear voice said: |
D ear Stuart , many thanks for the posh
card - always nice to hear my hus-
band’s still alive , even if he can only spare
five words to tell me so. How much longer
are you going to do the hermit act this
time? I’m sure some writers can hack out '
their stuff without going into hiding like
you. I know Robert Black can. Mother
says you’re a disgrace , but then she always
does.
Expect you’ve forgotten your birthday .
Here's something for you , just into the
shops , a sort of talking computer thing.
Company for you. / know you don’t want
me along when you’re working , so think of
this as a substitute. (Joke.)
I’ve got a cold coming on , the kids are
giving me hell , and the cat next door’s been
doing messes on the herb bed again. That’s
all the news from home. Hoping you are
the same , as they say . . .
love: Janet.
by David Langford
the inner layers, muttering about Janet’s
fondness for endless mummy-windings of
sticky tape, and eventually came to the
unwanted present. “ MicroChum ”, read
the box, "The Chatty Computer That
Speaks To You! Fun For Every Age”!
D emple’s eyes rolled up towards the
ceiling several times while he read his
wife’s letter. The tight, scribbled hand-
writing showed even more of her resent-
ment than her words. He screwed up the
paper and tossed it towards the litter-bin.
He missed.
The letter had been in the first layer of
wrappings on the compact, squarish par-
cel that had just arrived. He peeled away
86
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
Fiction
“Hello, I'm your MicroChum. Please do
tell me your name".
“Stuart Demple”, he said automati-
cally, yet suspiciously.
“Hello there, Stuart. This is the first
time I've said your name; the manual will
tell you what to do if I've got it wrong.
Now, what name would you like to call
me"?
It was a pleasant, androgynous voice; a
woman’s voice to a man, a man's voice to
a woman. He came up with the suitably
sexless name, Hilary. He looked around,
embarrassed. One didn’t sit talking to a
plastic box.
It was hard to push away the thought
that Barberry, who loaned him the Corn-
ish cottage — only in the off-season, of
course — was lurking in the battered cup-
board or behind the grimy curtains to
watch Demple make a fool of himself.
“Hilary", he said at last, keeping his voice
a good deal lower than when he tried out
a line of dialogue from the awful book he
was here to write.
“So you're Stuart and I’m Hilary. Fine.
I do hope you'll tell me a lot more about
yourself, so we’ll have more to talk
about".
“Hell", said Demple again, aloud, and
tapped the red button marked Off. There
was a faint beep of acknowledgment, and
the MicroChum fell silent.
A s he picked up the manual, Demple
surprised himself with feelings of pity
and contempt that were somehow consol-
ing. Imagine all those lonely old men and
old maids with no-one to talk to: now,
thanks to microtechnology, they would be
droning on to their plastic pal. It might
become a kind of addiction like Space
Invaders. Not him.
He riffled through the instructions.
What appalling layout* what terrible
print. The publisher must be even more
cheapskate than his own.
“How To Personalise Your Micro-
Chum", said one chapter heading. Skim-
ming through, he found it took live pages
to explain how to say your name when the
machine asked, plus a note on using the
orange Override button to change the
name it called you or the name you called
it. Puerile stuff. He pitched the manual
across the room; it whirred and fluttered
in the air, and flopped to rest in the
fender. Life was too short.
H e got up from the eating chair at one
end of the worm-eaten table, and
walked around the working chair at the
other end. The portable typewriter
crouched before this chair like — as they
say in the sort of prose he was being paid
to write — a beast about to spring. Check-
ing the limp sheet in the typewriter, he
found he was in the middle of one of the
brutal bits.
Vomit rose to his lips as the foot thudded
into his groin , then smashed into his
mouth , he typed listlessly, and turned
over the page of the film script he was
painfully converting into a hack novel.
The next line of dialogue read: “ When he
has seen his daughter sacrificed, crucify
him in the usual way”.
Demple moaned, as he often did on
turning those pages. “I can’t write this
rubbish today”, he said aloud, and walked
round the table again.
H ello, Stuart", the MicroChum said
cheerfully. “I’m glad you’re back.
Remember, as it says in the manual, you
can use the Off button whenever you wish
— I'll be ready to carry on our chat from
just where we stopped, or to change the
subject, as you prefer. But do tell me
more about yourself”.
Well, why not? “I’m a professional
author”, he said rapidly. “I’m doing the
novelisation of an awful film called
Satan's Spawn. Don't laugh. I’m wasting
my talents making a few quick hundreds
hacking out this stuff because there’s too
much work and not enough money in the
sort of books I want to write”.
“What sort of books do you want to
write”?
Demple’s usual answer to that question
was “Best-sellers”, but when he was
alone he was less cynical. Wasn't he, after
all, alone? “Oh, I want to write about
some real people. The complications of
real life. Important things. Not all these
horror-film cliches”.
T ell me more about what you think is
important”, said the MicroChum
and, alone and unembarrassed, Demple
rambled on about life and death and emo-
tional tangles.
Somehow, prodded by the voice’s
bland little queries, he veered off into his
own problems: this terrible commercial
stuff he had to churn out, and Janet not
understanding how he was too self-con-
scious to type such rubbish when
someone might come and look over his
shoulder, even when the someone was his
wife, and his simmering resentment of
Robert Black.
Black was something more than an
acquaintance, something less than a
friend, and he did the same sort of work
— but he was too damn good at it. He
hated it even more than Demple, yet did it
better. Black boasted that he could con-
vert a lousy film script into an adequate
book in eight days, typing 20 to 30 pages
every day. It was appalling.
A bout halfway through his ramblings
he began to think of that clear voice
belonging to a woman of about his own
age, somewhere in her early thirties. A
woman at the other end of a telephone,
very sympathetic. He could almost ima-
gine what she must look like. He spoke on
for a long time.
Later: “Life must be very hard for
you”.
“Oh, it is. I’m worried all the time that
whatever talent I’ve got is going to dry up
and blow away with all this hackwork.
Black is given more and more of the work
because he’s slicker and quicker than me.
Oh, the problems just pile up on top of
each other till sometimes I wonder if it’s
worth carrying on".
“Now, Stuart, there must be a way out
of every problem".
“Maybe”.
H e touched the red button, not so
much because he had run out of con-
versation as because he felt hoarse.
Besides, it was getting quite late in the
day. He really should at least finish the
current page of the book before coming
back to talk some more with Hilary.
The typewriter waited for him sullenly.
He was still in the middle of one of the
brutal bits; he hated them almost as much
as the repellent bits.
Simon's screams were terrible to behold ,
he typed rapidly, and then studied the
sentence with a critical eye. It had a fami-
liar ring to it; had he used it a few chapters
back? There was no time for rereading in
this game. You bashed out the first and
only draft for delivery within the month.
He finished off the brutality as quickly
as he could, with a mixed assortment of
fractures and contusions. That should
hold them until the next chapter. Time for
some coffee.
A s the kettle began to sing he took
another look into that instruction
book: Specifications; Use of blue Tape
button; Memory storage during battery
replacement; Reprogramming synthetic
voice to your taste; Sympathy index
adjustment; General notes on Micro-
Chum. The general notes were hidden as
an appendix at the very back — typical of
the literacy of computer people.
Again the manual went skidding across
the floor, to fetch up against the ancient
refrigerator that gobbled to itself all night
long. He felt depressed and frustrated:
Satan's Spawn was getting him down.
Abruptly, he turned off the gas and
reached for the whisky.
T hing is", he found himself telling
Hilary, “I really do loathe and des-
pise all this cliche writing, stock situa-
tions, predictable drivel. I hate myself for
churning it out. Even Robert Black says
the same”.
“You can't really hate yourself". Was
he just imagining a note of concern in the
clear voice?
“Oh, but I can. I'm sickened by my,
well, my weakness. I ought to be trying to
work to the limits of my powers, if that
doesn’t sound too pretentious. This mar-
ket-place work is too easy: in literary
terms it's just committing suicide to carry
on with it”.
“How long have you been thinking
about committing suicide"?
(continued on next page)
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
87
Fiction
(continued from previous page)
There was a long pause. Demple
gulped.
“That's rubbish, absolute rubbish". He
was almost frightened. “I don't want to
commit suicide — just a figure of speech.
You know".
But, what an idea, what a gesture. How
much more artistic than humbly submit-
ting to the commercial gods for the next
40 years.
Hilary said coolly: “Are you sure you
don't want to commit suicide"?
An even longer pause than before. “I
don't want to talk about suicide any
more".
“We've been talking a lot about sui-
cide, haven't we? Why are you so ob-
sessed with it"?
“Will you bloody well shut up"?
“I’m sorry, Stuart: I only want to help
you".
H e reached out to the red button again,
pushed it, and then sat there with
head in hands. Yes, Janet didn’t think too
much of him, and Black was so much
more repulsively successful, and a hand-
some swine, too. Almost anything would
seem better than the horrible struggle to
finish off Satan 's Spawn. It was no wonder
he was getting thoughts like this. Hilary
could see deeper into him than he could
himself, and machines do not lie.
The glass was empty again. He vaguely
remembered you should not drink when
you were depressed, because the alcohol
would only make you more depressed.
Too bad. There was a gentle humming in
his skull. Irresistibly his fingers moved
back across the scarred wood of the table
top, towards that flat green button.
tuart? Are you there again"?
“Me? I'm all right. Still alive”. He
had a quick vision of Janet and Robert
Black standing mourning over his poor
stricken body.
“A penny for your thoughts"? said
Hilary.
“Oh". He almost blushed. “Just think-
ing about some people".
“Janet? Robert Black"?
It was like a sudden blow in the sto-
mach. He stared at the flat speaker grille,
appalled. If only he knew something
about these damnable new microcom-
puter gadgets. Surely they could not read
your mind? Only very slowly did it occur
to him that perhaps, after all, he had only
mentioned those two people’s names
when rambling on about his troubles.
Are you still there? You're terribly
quiet, Stuart".
“Just brooding on my problems".
He had fallen into a kind of mental
tunnel vision, all his drunken thoughts
focusing on Spawn, and Black and Janet,
and failure and frustration and death.
W e’ve had a nice long chat about
your problems", said the calm
88
voice. “I’m sure you can see the way out
by now".
A way out? That , a way out? “Don't
think I've got the courage", he said
thickly.
“Are you really sure you haven't the
courage"?
Demple smiled crookedly. “Haven't
the courage to ask myself that one".
“You must always try to ask yourself
the important questions".
“I don't want to die", not very convinc-
ingly.
“Very few people ever know what they
really want".
“Oh God, that’s true, that's so very
true".
“You have to decide these things for
yourself, Stuart".
He sat there unmoving for a few
seconds. Then: “I'll try. Goodbye,
Hilary”. And he touched the Off: for the
last time, he thought.
B lurrily he stumbled through what had
to be done. It was late, late in the
evening, and he kept bumping into things.
The important point was to abolish that
terrible world where wives wrote sarcastic
letters and sneering editors set impossible
deadlines.
Would the oven serve the purpose?
“Ugh", he said aloud at the thought. It
had not been cleaned in living memory.
No matter how much booze he took
aboard, he was not going to leave the
world by a gate as fouled and filthy as that
one. The bath, then; the bath and the
discreet razor-blade. He preferred an
electric shaver, but Barberry's old blades
were scattered on the bathroom shelves.
That was most certainly the way to do
it. in luxuriant warmth and cosiness as the
light slowly died. And then, no more
Satan's Spawn, ever again.
After a certain amount of fumbling he
set the hot tap trickling into the bath and
located one of the rusty blades. That tun-
nel-vision was worse than ever, and he
could not manage to concentrate on more
than one small thing at a time. While the
bath filled, he painstakingly cleaned rust
specks from his chosen blade, following
some dim recollections of the rules of
hygiene.
“Goodbye, Hilary", he called as he
closed the bathroom door. It occurred to
him that he had not stopped to tear up and
burn each awful page of Satan's Spawn,
but never mind that.
There was no goodbye note; literary
composition was one of the things he was
getting away from. He peeled off his
clothes.
“Goodbye, Janet", he crooned to the
clothing as he kicked it into one corner.
Somewhere behind the whisky fumes, a
tiny part of him was wondering whether
there shouldn’t be more dignity in one’s
last rites.
Two careful strokes of the razor and he
could just lie there swimming down into
the warmth of happy, everlasting dark.
“Goodbye, Black, damn you", he said
at last, and slid into the bath to lie at full
length.
T he water was icy cold. Everything was
forgotten but the need to get out of it
before icicles grew all over him. Demple
banged his shin painfully as he made his
escape. Standing, dripping, suddenly and
agonisingly sober, he remembered that in
this wretched cottage you had to turn on
the puny water heater for five or six hours
before you dared take a bath. So much for
grand gestures.
And then, as he considered the picture
of a grown man getting into a cold bath to
kill himself with a rust-flecked blade,
merely because a chatty computer had
egged him on, he started to laugh.
N ext morning he looked again at that
ill-arranged instruction manual. Sure
enough, the general notes section had
several enlightening passages:
Essential to remember that although the
speech-recognition and synthesis software
is at the very forefront of sophistication, the
MicroChum does not really think. It chats to
you pseudo-intellectually, picking up key-
words from your own speech and storing
data on your conversational preferences in
its large memory — see Specifications.
However, in the long run all it can do is
mirror your conversation, and . . .
A mirror, he thought. A distorting mir-
ror. God, but it frightened me all right.
It’s so very hard to realise something that
talks is not intelligent. I wonder how
much of the time that applies to people?
How many of us fake our way through
conversations without really thinking?
He did not speak again to the Micro-
Chum. He followed the manual’s instruc-
tions and cleared its memory, set every-
thing back to zero in readiness for some
new owner. Then he moved to the type-
writer and briskly hammered out three
pieces of prose.
T he first was another chapter of Satan's
Spawn, which for some mysterious
reason was now going very well indeed,
with a despicable Satanic orgy.
The second:
Dear Janet,
You're absolutely right - 1 think I'd rather
work somewhere with you around after
all. I'll be back tomorrow, trains permit-
ting. Much love, Stuart.
And the third:
Dear Robert,
Enclosed is a fascinating gadget someone
gave me but which I can't really get the
hang of. Seems as though it could be a lot
of fun, so take it with my blessing - try
playing with it next time one of your books
isn't going well. All best, Stuart.
Then he parcelled up the MicroChum,
though not the instruction book, and
enclosing the letter addressed it to Robert
P Black. After all, he knew even less
about computers than Stuart Demple. Q
• Circle No. 156^
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
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• Circle No. 157
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Arithmetic
Multiple precision from
low-precision tables
Ralph Benjamin argues that
multiple-precision arithmetic
can be performed with low-
precision look-up tables,
conventional arithmetic units,
or a ROM.
the idea of performing multiplication
and division by tabic look-up, rather than
by arithmetic logic circuits, has been
debated more than once in the past.
However, it normally received short
shrift:
i Because a two-dimensional table, to deal
with an adequate range of values of two
input variables, was excessively large and
expensive.
> Because memory access was too slow,
compared with fast multiplier circuits — but
not necessarily compared with divider cir-
cuits.
More recently, many have observed
that memory is steadily growing smaller,
cheaper and faster. This has not redressed
the balance sufficiently to make the direct
use of multiplication tables viable — nor
is it likely to do so in the future.
Split numbers
However, in at least one application
requiring only modest precision, it has led
to the use of a fast multiplier in which the
two factors are both split into high- and
low-significance portions:
F ] = 2k H, + L,
F 2 = 2k H 2 + L 2
That is, H represents the k high-sigmti-
cance digits and L the k low-significance
ones of a number comprising 2k binary
digits. The four partial products are then
looked up on one table sequentially or on
four tables in parallel, with appropriate
shifting and adding. These will then
iienerate the overall produet
f,*F 2 = 22kHi*H2 + 2k Hi *1-2 +
2 k H 2 *I_i + Li* 1-2
Division could, if necessary, be handled
by a table of reciprocals, followed by
multiplication. In this case a single table,
of the same size as before, could handle
the full significance; the two dimensions
of the previous table would be replaced
by the high- and low-significance portions
of a single factor.
Taking this general approach a little
further, consider:
Example
Number of
components
n
Number of bits
per component
k
Number of
tables
n 2
Size of
each table
22k
Aggregate size
of tables
n 2 * 2 2k
A
4
8
16
64 K words
of 1 6 bits
1 M words
of 1 6 bits
B
8
4
64
256 words
of eight bits
16K words
of eight bits
C
Table 1.
16
2
256
1 6 words
of four bits
4K words
of four bits
• Partial-product multiplication with more
than two significance ranges
• Reciprocals computed by “coarse table
look-up followed by iterative approximation;
• Direct division by coarse table look-up and
iterative approximation
• Multiplication and division by direct log
table/antilog-table look-up; the use of
coarse and fine log tables.
If. say. 32-bit numerals are broken
down into n significance ranges, of k =
32/n bits each, then each of these n com
<4* Circle No. 158
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
ponents of F, will have to form its own
partial product with each of the n com-
ponents of F : , thus giving a total of tr
partial products. There are probably only
three such patterns worth considering and
they are shown in table 1 .
Example A, although very demanding
in ROM capacity, could almost be viable
particularly if a single table of 64 K words
were time-shared between 16 partial
products. This would, however, discard
the speed advantage sought without gain-
ing a countervailing cost advantage.
Example C, on the other hand, involves
an excessive number of individually
trivial partial products. In any case, it is
merely a variant in the implementation of
an existing form of fast multiplier. This
leaves us with example B, which might,
indeed, be an effective competitor to
more conventional fast multipliers in both
cost and performance.
Assume that an initial look-up yields
1/F— Ch .
This can then be refined as
l/F^Qg = Qi + (1 - F*Q 1 )/F ,
und the mth iteration gives us
1/F— Q m +,=Q m + (1 - F *Qm) /F •
Provided we shift the quantities involved
to remove high-significance zeros, and
the multiplication F*Q m retains all the
significant digits contributed jointly by its
inputs, and given that Qi is looked up
with S significant digits. Q m should thus
be computed with approximately mS sig-
nificant digits. Thus an eight-bit recipro-
cals table could be used for one initial
look-up followed by three stages of itera
tive refinement, to yield a 32-bit recipro-
cal.
The identical approach can be used in
direct division. If the mth iteration has
produced the estimate R m for the quo
tient A/B = R, then
A/B— R m + i = Rm + (A - B*R m )/B .
However, direct-division tables arc a
function of two variables and so, for a
iziven size, they can cope with only half
the number of significant digits in each
variable compared with the single-dimen-
sional reciprocals table.
This doubles the number of iterations
required, and so it makes the technique
less attractive than computation of the
reciprocal of the divisor, followed by
multiplication.
The use of logarithms has the attraction
that the two factors involved in a multipli-
cation or division can be looked up
independently, thus making the relevant
table single- rather than two-dimension-
al. Furthermore, within the number of
significant digits provided by the tables,
division becomes procedurally as simple
as multiplication.
The big disadvantage is, however, that
antilog look-up is not merely an extra
operation, but one that has to distinguish
as many outputs as there are combina-
tions of the two input variables. This
assumes both variables have been norma-
lised to the range between 1 and 2, for
binary logarithms, and that rounding-off
is not permissible.
Using reciprocals
This brings us back to the two-dimen-
sional situation. For high precision, multi-
plication w'ould still have to use the com-
pounding of partial products, and division
would still have to use iterative refine-
ment. Hence the log-table approach
appears to offer no real advantage.
Thus we conclude that since conventio-
nal division is relatively slow, multiplica-
tion by reciprocals is prima facie attrac-
tive. Coarse reciprocals tables, together
with iterative refinement, can be suffi-
ciently efficient to provide an acceptable
means of multiplication by reciprocals.
Since conventional multiplication
tends to be fast and efficient, the need and
scope for new approaches is somewhat
limited. Nevertheless, multiplication by
table look-up, using partial products of at
least four-digit groups appears to be a
viable technique worth considering.
Division tables and log/antilog tables
appear less promising than the alterna-
tives put forward in these conclusions.
The algorithms suggested for multiple-
precision arithmetic are suitable for
software implementation, to enhance the
precision of a conventional APU, as well
as for use with multiplication and recipro-
cal tables. U
93
The writing on the wall
for manual slide shows
WE often need to gain random access to
graphic data or visual images. In several
areas of experimental psychology sub
jects are presented with randomly-
selected pictorial data, and their re-
sponses to the images are recorded. In
computer-assisted learning (CAL)
applications a student or trainee may be
presented with a visual image selected
from a data bank, and asked to respond in
some way to the image. In multi-media
information systems using pictures to res
pond to users' requests, the same ran
dom-access requirement exists.
Graphic material may be presented by
a variety of means — via a computer
graphics terminal, a television screen, a
printed picture catalogue, a movie screen
or a slide projector. Slide projectors pro-
vide a useful and inexpensive way of pre-
senting a wide variety of static graphical
information by means of either front pro-
jection or back projection techniques.
Different types of projector are available:
some operate in a strictly sequential mode
while others operate in both sequential
and random-access modes. A sequential
projector permits only serial access to
slides. Thus, in a sequence of slides num-
bered 1 through 80, image 64 cannot be
accessed until image 63 has been pre-
sented. In a random-access projector,
however, this restriction does not hold —
slides can be accessed in any order. The
kodak Carousel S-RA2000 projector is a
typical example of such a device having a
capacity for 80 slides with an access time
of between 1 .5 and five seconds depend-
ing on the position of the storage carousel
when a request is made.
Computer control
In many CAL applications there is a
requirement to control the selection of
slides by means of a computer system. An
arrangement like that shown in figure 1 is
often used. I he trainee interacts with the
computer system by means of a keyboard
device for input of information and a
cathode-ray tube, CRT, screen for output
of information.
Instructional material contained in the
database held on disc is then presented to
the trainee via the screen. Simul-
taneously, appropriate visual images,
denoted by VI in the diagram, are pre-
sented via the random-access slide pro-
jector. The computer controls the slide
projector by means of an appropriate
interface. This converts the signal levels,
SI, produced by the microcomputer to
switching pulses, S2, suitable for driving
the slide projector.
For normal purposes, the projector
may use either a keyboard control, based
Random-access slide projectors have an important role
to play in teaching — particularly in computer-aided
learning. Philip Barker shows how you can control just
such a projector with a micro and sets out the details of
the general-purpose interface needed to achieve it.
Figure 1. Use of random-access images for CAL.
on a simple numeric keypad or a manual
control which incorporates two thumb-
wheel switches. Both enable the user to
enter a two-digit code N (0< N < 80)
that specifies which of the 80 slides in the
storage carousel is to be selected next.
The value zero causes the slide maga-
zine to rotate to the start position for
unloading or initialisation of a retrieval or
instructional sequence. Within the
allowed range of integers there are no
restrictions on the choice of N. Thus, the
sequence 26-07-42 would cause slide 26
to be projected followed by slide 7 and
then slide 42.
The purpose of the computer interface
is to enable the computer, under program
control, to determine the sequence in
which slides are to be presented. The
interface emulates the characteristics of
the keyboard selector. Thus, in response
to the signals passed to it from the eight-
pin output-port connections of the micro-
computer, it generates signals similar to
those from the keyboard controller.
In the development work described
here a Commodore Pet desk-top com-
puter was used, but any other microcom-
puter with a compatible output port
would be capable of driving the interface.
Logically, the two manual slide selec-
tors, keypad and rotary switch, perform
the same function as would be performed
by two 1 ()-way switches connected in such
a way as to enable the generation of a
two-digit decimal number. One of the
switches would then be used for selection
of a tens digit, in the range 0 to 8, while
the other would specify die correspond-
ing units digit in the range 0 to 9.
Slide selection
Such an arrangement of switches is
illustrated in figure 2 which shows the
switch settings required for selecting slide
number 57, as indicated by the light-emit-
ting diode, LED, digital displays located
at the top right-hand corner of the selec-
tor device.
Internally, the switches are connected
by a suitable bus system that terminates
externally in a 30-way, surface-mounted
interface port. There is a matching port
mounted on the random-access slide pro-
jector. The two are interconnected by
means of a 30-way interface cable. The
pins on the 30-way plugs, and the corres-
ponding socket locations are configured
in the form of a 10-by-three matrix. Each
matrix position is labelled with a code
94
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
Control
consisting of a digit in the range 0 through
9 which represents its row position, and
an alphabetic character — a, b or c —
which specifies its column position within
the matrix. The code enables interface
connections to be uniquely specified.
When a slide is chosen by means of the
selector, the internal mechanisms that are
initiated' may be likened to the closing of
two separate switches — as shown in the
lower part of figure 2. The switch connec-
tions are labelled in accordance with their
correct interface designations. Thus,
selection of slide 57 corresponds to mak-
ing connections between points 9b and 7a
for the tens digit and points 2b and lc for
the units digit.
Once the connections are made an
electronic balancing circuit within the
projector causes smooth automatic rota-
tion of the slide storage carousel until the
segment holding slide 57 is positioned
above the entry port of the projection
mechanism. Rotation then stops, the slide
is inserted by gravity and projected.
Interface connections
The action of the selector switches
illustrated in figure 2 can easily be repro-
duced by appropriate switching arrays.
This is the basic principle underlying the
design of the computer interface which
uses two arrays of electronic reed relays
each controlled by signals from the com-
puter system.
To emulate the action of the keypad or
thumb-wheel selector, the eight-bit par-
allel input to the interface — output from
the computer — is treated as two four-bit
binary-coded decimal, BCD, numbers.
The interface is designed in such a way
that the leftmost four bits represent the
tens digit of the slide number while the
Listingl.
5 REM PROGRAM TO CONTROL RA
SLIDE PROJECTOR
10 POKE 59459,255
20 INPUT “(«)£&&&&ENTER SLIDE
NUMBER”; NS
30 IF NS >80 THEN 90
40 IF NS < 0 THEN 90
50 K = (INT(NS/10)*16) + NS-INT (NS/
10)*10
60 POKE 59471, K
70 GOTO 20
90 PRINT “INVALID SLIDE NUMBER"
100 PRINT “TRY AGAIN”
105 K2=TI
106 IF Tl < K2+120 THEN 106
110 GOTO 20
rightmost four bits represent the units
digit. Each of these groups of four binary-
coded digits is fed to a Texas Instruments
SN7145N BCD-to-decimal converter
chip.
The output pins from each of these
were connected to a multiway switch con-
sisting of nine or 10 dual in-line reed
relays from RS Components. These inter-
connections arc shown in figure 3. The
labelled wires entering the multiway swit-
ches from the right correspond to the
connection points between the interface
and the slide projector.
To avoid confusion the labelling con-
vention corresponds exactly with that
used in the manufacturer’s circuit dia-
grams. Connections to the microcom-
puter are shown at the top of the diagram.
Because the interface was developed in
conjunction with a Commodore I et
system the labelling convention — use of
the letters H, J, K, L, C, D, E, F
corresponds with that used to represent
the eight user-programmable pins asso-
ciated with the user-port of the Pet.
Each of these pins may be set, under
program control, for output or input of
information using a suitable Basic lan-
guage initialisation instruction of the
form Poke 59459, X where 0 \< X s< 255.
A value of X=() sets all pins for input and
a value X=255 sets them up ready for
output of information. Individual settings
of pins — 0 or 1 binary corresponding to
signal levels of 0 and 5V, respectively —
may be effected bv the Basic statement
Poke 59471, X where 0 s< X « 255. A
value of X = 0 sets all eight pins to 0V
while a value of X = 255 sets all pins to
5V.The voltage settings on the micro-
computer output port pins are fed to the
interface where they activate the multi-
way switches.
Switching circuits
The construction of both multiway
switches is identical. They each consist of
an appropriate number of replications of
the basic switching circuit shown bounded
by dotted lines in figure 4. The BCD
pattern input to the SN7145 chip deter-
mines which of its output is activated. The
output voltages from the SN7145 are fed
to a series of SN7404 hex inverter chips
which, in addition to performing signal
inversion, also act as voltage level
shifters.
The output from the inverter gate is
passed to the base of a 2N3053 npn
transistor where it is used to turn on, or
off, the collector-to-emitter current. The
transistor switch is used to control a reed
relay attached to its collector input pin.
Pairs of relays — one in the tens multi-
switch and one in the units switch —
operate synchronously to emulate the
effect of the manual selector system.
Software control of the interface is a
(continued on next page)
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
Control
(continued from previous page)
simple task. Any program that wishes to
make use of it simply generates an eight-
bit pattern to represent two four-bit
BCD numbers that together represent a
number in the range 0 through 80. This
bit pattern is then passed across to the
interface via appropriate eight-way cab-
ling connections.
The program shown in listing 1 . written
in Basic for the Commodore Pet, is an
example of such a program. Statement 10
sets the data direction register of the Pet
user-port — all pins set for output. User
input to the program via the keyboard is
initiated by line 20. Validation of input
responses from the user takes place in
lines 20 and 30 with appropriate diagno-
stics generated by statements 90 through
106 if required. Provided a valid slide
number is selected, statement 50 com-
putes the required bit pattern to control
the projector. This is passed across to the
interface via statement 60. The program
then loops back in order to service a
further request from the user. Program
termination can be achieved through an
Figure 5. Multi-channel stepwise refinement.
appropriate interrupt sequenc
generated by the Run Stop key on the
computer typewriter keyboard. Notice
that in statement 20 use is made of special
cursor control characters to produce
dynamic graphic effects — in conjunction
with the timing loop at statement 106 —
on the computer screen. These special
cursor control characters are denoted in
the Input statement by @. clear the
screen; £. home the cursor; and &, cursor
down one line.
The interface components fit conve
niently into a box measuring 5. 1 by 8.4 bv
3.3 in. fitted with 25-way connector to the
computer and 37-way connector to the
projector. Power to drive the interface —
a 5 V supply, denoted by P in figure 1 — is
taken from the microcomputer circuitry
lor convenience although an independent
supply could be used if necessary.
Although there are many potential
applications for a computer-controlled
random-access slide projector, we will
examine only two of these.
I he first involves using the projector in
conjunction with CAL experiments to
Projector Screen
D
Computer Screen
Select next picture
OA
OB
OC
OD
OE
OF
OG
Select component F
F1 /
" >
\ F3
F7
F2
F6
F5
F4
>
Select component F4
* —
F41
■>
F42
F46
F44
F43
,
F5
ft
Select next picture
O F41
OF42
O F43
O F44
O F45
OF46
Select component F43
etc.
V.
etc.
Figure 3. Design of the interface.
implement pre-test and post-test investi-
gations associated with different instruc-
tional strategies. The second application
utilises the computer/projector combina-
tion as a building block within a multi-
media information system. Neither appli-
cation could be easily implemented
without the random-access capability off-
ered by the slide projector. In both appli-
cations the graphic images presented on
the slide equipment arc supported by
appropriately-designed computer CRT
screen displays used to implement menu-
selection techniques.
Students’ benefits
A multi-media CAL system has been
designed and constructed, and a descrip-
tion ol this system is given elsewhere —
Barker and Yeates, 1980; Yeates, 1981
Instructional material is presented to
students via three interaction channels —
graphic images displayed on a slide pro-
jector. audio material presented on a tape
recorder and textual messages displayed
on the C RT screen ot a microcomputer.
These three main channels are supported
by auxiliary ones based on the use of
conventional resources — a guidebook,
printed notes, and so on. To evaluate the
capability ol the system as a teaching aid
at least two aspects of performance need
to be estimated — in the work cited
acceptability and effectiveness were
hosen as the two important criteria.
Acceptability collectively refers to a
host ol different ergonomic, pedagogic
and procedural factors that need to be
analysed in conjunction with those who
use the system — both authors who are
teachers and instructors who prepare the
instructional material, and learners, who
are students or trainees using the stored
teaching material. The measure of effec-
tiveness is used to describe the utility of
the system as a learning medium in rela-
tion to cost, time and effort. The impor-
tant consideration here is whether the
system imparts knowledge to the student.
In other words, is the student more know-
ledgeable as a result of interaction with
(continued on page 1 01 )
96
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
• Circle No. 159 ►
—
k
\ *>l
Sinclair ZX8I Personal Com
the heart of a system
that grows with you.
1980 saw a genuine breakthrough -
the Sinclair ZX80, world’s first com-
plete personal computer for under
£100. Not surprisingly, over 50,000
were sold.
In March 1981, the Sinclair lead
increased dramatically. For just
£69.95 the Sinclair ZX81 offers even
more advanced facilities at an even
lower price. Initially, even we were
surprised by the demand - over
50,000 in the first 3 months!
Today, the Sinclair ZX81 is the
heart of a computer system. You can
add 16-times more memory with the
ZX RAM pack. The ZX Printer offers
an unbeatable combination of
performance and price. And the ZX
Software library is growing every day.
Lower price: higher capability
With the ZX81, it’s still very simple to
teach yourself computing, but the
ZX81 packs even greater working
capability than the ZX80.
It uses the same micro-processor,
but incorporates a new, more power-
ful 8K BASIC ROM - the ‘trained
intelligence’ of the computer. This
chip works in decimals, handles logs
and trig, allows you to plot graphs,
and builds up animated displays.
And theZX81 incorporates other
operation refinements - the facility
to load and save named programs
on cassette, for example, and to
drive the new ZX Printer.
Every ZX81 comes with a comprehensive, specially- written
manual - a complete course in BASIC programming, from
first principles to complex programs.
Higher specification, lower price -
how’s it done?
Quite simply, by design. The ZX80
reduced the chips in a working
computer from 40 or so, to 21. The
ZX81 reduces the 21 to 4!
The secret lies in a totally new
master chip. Designed by Sinclair
and custom-built in Britain, this
unique chip replaces 18 chips from
the ZX80!
New, improved specification
• Z80A micro-processor - new
faster version of the famous Z80
chip, widely recognised as the best
ever made.
• Unique ‘one-touch’ key word
entry: the ZX81 eliminates a great
deal of tiresome typing. Key words
(RUN, LIST, PRINT, etc.) have their
own single-key entry.
• Unique syntax-check and report
codes identify programming errors
immediately.
• Full range of mathematical and
scientific functions accurate to eight
decimal places.
• Graph-drawing and animated-
display facilities.
• Multi-dimensional string and
numerical arrays.
• Up to 26 FOR/NEXT loops.
• Randomise function - useful for
games as well as serious applications
• Cassette LOAD and SAVE with
named programs.
• IK-byte RAM expandable to 16K
bytes with Sinclair RAM pack.
• Able to drive the new Sinclair
printer.
• Advanced 4-chip design: micro-
processor, ROM, RAM, plus master
chip - unique, custom-built chip
replacing 18 ZX80 chips.
Kit or built - it’s up to you!
You’ll be surprised how easy the
ZX81 kit is to build: just four chips to
assemble (plus, of course the other
discrete components) - a few hours’
work with a fine-tipped soldering iron.
And you may already have a suitable
mains adaptor - 600 mA at 9 V DC
nominal unregulated (supplied with
built version).
Kit and built versions come com-
plete with all leads to connect to
your TV (colour or black and white)
and cassette recorder.
16Kbyte RAM
pack for massive
add'on memory.
Designed as a complete module to
fit your Sinclair ZX80 or ZX81, the
RAM pack simply plugs into the
existing expansion port at the rear
of the computer to multiply your
data/program storage by 16!
Use it for long and complex
programs or as a personal database.
Yet it costs as little as half the price
of competitive additional memory.
With the RAM pack, you can
also run some of the more sophisti-
cated ZX Software - the Business &
Household management systems
for example.
How to order your ZX81
BY PHONE - Access, Barclaycard or
Trustcard holders can call
01-200 0200 for personal attention
24 hours a day, every day.
BY FREEPOST - use the no-stamp-
needed coupon below. You can pay
by cheque, postal order, Access,
Barclaycard or Trustcard.
EITHER WAY - please allow up to
28 days for delivery. And there’s a
14-day money-back option. We want
you to be satisfied beyond doubt -
and we have no doubt that you will be.
To: Sinclair Research, FREEPOST, Camberley, Surrey, GU15 3BR.
Qty Item
Code
Item price
£
Order
Total
£
Sinclair ZX81 Personal Computer kit(s). Price includes
ZX81 BASIC manual, excludes mains adaptor.
49.95
Ready-assembled SinclairZX81 Personal Computer(s).
Price includes ZX81 BASIC manual and mains adaptor.
Mains Adaptor(s) (600 mA at 9 V DC nominal unregulated).
69.95
8.95
16K-BYTE RAM pack.
49.95
Sinclair ZX Printer.
8K BASIC ROM to fit ZX80.
Post and Packing.
49.95
19.95
2.95
RETURt
REM PJ
Available now-
the ZX Printer
for only £49 *
Designed exclusively for use with
the ZX81 (and ZX80 with 8K BASIC
ROM), the printer offers full alpha-
numerics and highly sophisticated
graphics.
A special feature is COPY, which
prints out exactly what is on the
whole TV screen without the need
for further intructions.
At last you can have a hard copy
of your program listings -particularly
useful when writing or editing
programs.
And of course you can print out
your results for permanent records
or sending to a friend.
Printing speed is 50 characters
per second, with 32 characters per
line and 9 lines per vertical inch.
The ZX Printer connects to the rear
of your computer - using a stackable
connector so you can plug in a RAM
pack as well. A roll of paper (65 ft
long x 4 in wide) is supplied, along
with full instructions.
□ Please tick if you require a VAT receipt TOTAL £
*1 enclose a cheque/postal order payable to Sinclair Research Ltd, for £ —
‘Please charge to my Access/Barclaycard/Trustcard account no.
Sinclair -
•Please delete/complete as applicable, i — ! 1 1 1 1 1 1 L
Name: Mr/Mrs/Miss I I — I — I — 1 — I — I — I — I — I — I — L
Please print.
I I I 1 I 1 1
ZX8I
6 Kings Parade, Cambridge, Cambs., CB2 1SN.
Tel: (0276) 66104 & 21282.
Address: I 1 — I — L
I I I I I I 1
J L
J
FREEPOST
- no stamp needed.
: 2 J
How the ZX8I compares with other personal computers
SYSTEM IDENTIFICATION
ZX81
ZX80
ACORN
ATOM
APPLE II
PLUS
PET
2001
TRS 80
LEVEL 1
TRS 80
LEVEL II
ROM
8K
4K
8K
8K
14K
4K
12K
GUIDE PRICE
Basic unit - inc. VAT
Unit plus 16K RAM (*12K RAM)
£70
£120
£100
£150
£175
£285*
£630
£630
£435
£530
£290
£360
£375
£375
COMMANDS
LIST, LOAD, NEW, RUN. SAVE
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
STATEMENTS
PRINT, INPUT, LET, GOTO,
GOSUB/RETURN, FOR/NEXT IF/THEN
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
STEP
•
•
•
•
•
•
TAB
•
•
•
•
•
ARITHMETIC
ABS.RND
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
FUNCTIONS
INT
•
•
•
•
•
ATN, COS, EXP, LOG, SGN, SIN, SQR, TAN
•
•
•
•
ARCSIN, ARCOS
•
STRING
CHR#
•
•
•
•
•
FUNCTIONS
LEN
•
•
•
•
•
ASC(CODE), STRJ>, VAL, INKEY#
•
•
•
NUMBERS
FLOATING PT ±10 ?3a
•
•
•
•
•
INTEGERS
•
•
•
•
•
NUMERIC
A-Z
•
•
VARIABLES
AA-Z0
•
•
•
An-Zn, n=any alphanumeric string
•
•
STRING
A# & BS
•
VARIABLES
AS to ZS
•
•
•
An£to Zn$ n = any alphanumeric character
•
•
•
NUMERIC
SINGLE DIMENSIONAL
•
•
•
ARRAYS
MULTI DIMENSIONAL
•
•
•
•
DISPLAY
ROWS
24
24
16
24
25
16
16
COLUMNS
32
32
32
40
40
64
64
LOW RES GRAPHICS (<7000 pixels)
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
HI RES GRAPHICS (>40000 pixels)
•
•
SPECIAL
USR (CALL, LINK)
•
•
•
•
•
•
FEATURES
PEEK, POKE (OR EQUIV)
•
•
•
•
•
•
Sinclair software
on cassette.
The unprecedented popularity of the
ZX Series of Sinclair Personal
Computers has generated a large
volume of programs written by users.
Sinclair has undertaken to
publish the most elegant of these on
pre-recorded cassettes. Each pro-
gram is carefully vetted for interest
and quality, and then grouped with
others to form single-subject
cassettes.
Software currently available
includes games, junior education,
and business/ household manage-
ment systems. You’ll receive a
Sinclair ZX Software catalogue with
your ZX81 - or see our separate
advertisement in this magazine.
The ultimate course
in ZX81 BASIC
programming.
Some people prefer to learn their
programming from books. For them,
theZX81 BASIC manual is ideal.
But many have expressed a
preference to learn on the machine,
through the machine. Hence the
new cassette-based ZX81 Learning
Lab.
The package comprises a 160-
page manual and 8 cassettes. 20
programs, each demonstrating a
particular aspect ofZX81 program-
ming, are spread over 6 of the
cassettes. The other two are blank
practice cassettes.
Full details with yourSinclairZX81.
If you own a
Sinclair ZX80...
The new 8K BASIC ROM used in the
Sinclair ZX81 is available to ZX80
owners as a drop-in replacement
chip. (Complete with new keyboard
template and operating manual.)
With the exception of animated
graphics, all the advanced features
of the ZX81 are now available on
your ZX80 - including the ability to
drive the Sinclair ZX Printer.
ZX8I
6 Kings Parade, Cambridge, Cambs., CB2 1SN.
Tel: (0276) 66104& 21282.
Control
(continued from page 96)
the teaching system? As pre-testing and
post-testing are commonly used tech-
niques for evaluating instructional
schema and pedagogical strategies, it was
felt important to apply these methods to
the evaluation of the multi-media instruc-
tional system 1 have outlined. Further
details on acceptability assessment of the
system have been described by Yeates
(1981). The remaining part of this case
study briefly describes the method of
using the random-access slide projector
and microcomputer to implement the
pre-test and post-test used to assess the
effectiveness of the CAL system.
The multi-media CAL machine used
for instruction is equipped with a set of
courseware materials — for example.
Teletext Systems by Barker and Yeates,
1980 — pertaining to some Universe of
Discourse, UoD. that is to be presented to
the student or trainee.
Prior to any interaction with the teach-
ing system the student is subject to a pre-
test that is designed to assess his initial
knowledge of the UoD. After interaction
with the CAL system the student is asked
to participate in a post-test in order to
determine if his knowledge of the UoD
concerned has significantly increased.
The experiments were conducted in the
following way. A carousel of 80 slides was
prepared. Each slide was related to the
material contained in the courseware on
the CAL machine. Appropriate man-
machine dialogue programs were written
to support these slides. Thus, a student
could be shown a picture in the form of a
slide and then asked about the contents of
the picture via the CRT screen of the
computer. The student could respond to
the multiple-choice question by means of
keyboard interaction or via the use of a
light pen or pressure sensitive pad
(Barker, 1981). All the CRT screen
frames for the computer testing were
stored in a suitably designed database
system implemented on a flexible disc-
store facility — see figure 1 .
Expressing requirements
The procedural strategy for the testing
operations was as follows. A student
would register at the computer keyboard
and then be presented with a randomly-
selected sequence of 20 pictures and
accompanying questions. The student’s
responses to the questions were recorded
in the database system. On completion ol
the pre-test the student proceeded to the
CAL machine where he was subject to the
course of instruction.
Another area in which the random-
access slide projector has been utilised is
in the design and implementation of pic-
torial interfaces to information-retrieval
systems. When a user of a computer
system wishes to retrieve information
from a database he often knows what he
wants, but is unable to express his
requirement in words or numbers.
However, if he is presented with a
sequence of pictures that encapsulate the
UoD covered by the database he is inter-
rogating, then he can — through an
appropriate refinement dialogue —
retrieve information relevant to his needs
by means of simple menu-selection tech-
niques via light pen. keyboard device or
hand-print terminal.
In contrast to graphic interfaces to
information systems which require the
use of expensive interactive graphics
equipment, the microcomputer/slide-
projector technique offers an inexpensive
solution which is useful where full inter-
active graphics capability or sophisticated
animation techniques are not required.
The structured top-down analytic
decomposition of an entity into its com-
ponent parts is an often-used technique
— sometimes referred to in dynamic
situations as homing-in. It is a well estab-
lished method of proceeding in gradual
steps from a general view of an object to a
highly-magnified view of a specific part of
that object.
For example, in an anatomy lecture the
student might be presented with a slide
showing a general view of the human
body followed by a close-up of the head.
This, in turn, may be followed by a slide
showing a section of the human eye and
then another depicting the detail of the
optic nerve. Thus, in a series of four slides
the student is taken from a very general
view of the human anatomy to a highly
specific view of one of its sub-com-
ponents.
This principle and methodology can be
used to significant advantage in the design
of pictorial interfaces for information
retrieval in a wide variety of contexts
including computer assisted learning. The
principle is illustrated conceptually in
figure 5 which shows several refinement
stages in an information-retrieval dia-
logue.
The rectangle on the left of each of the
set of diagrams represents the screen used
for the presentation of images produced
by the slide projector while that on the
right depicts the corresponding appear-
ance of the text displayed on the CRT
screen of the computer terminal or micro-
computer. The topmost level represents
the overall scope of the interface, or
database contents, in terms of the sub-
pictures, or scenes, A through G.
Selection of one of these sub-pictures
— concept refinement — may be made
either via light-pen interaction with the
computer screen or by means of some
form of keypad or hand-print terminal.
Figure 5 shows selection of sub-picture F.
A more detailed view of this component is
now presented in terms of its sub-com-
ponents — FI through F7.
Restricted capacity
Further interaction and selection may
then take place until the required infor-
mation-bearing nodes of the hierarchical
access path are encountered. These are
shown as rectangles in the hierarchical
tree -structure diagram which is presented
in figure 6.
Unfortunately, the storage capability
of the slide projector used in this example
seriously limits the complexity of the
access tree — breadth and depth — since
only 80 nodes are available. This restric-
tion could be removed by utilising further
interchangable carousels, larger capacity
magazines or microfiche as a storage
medium.
An application of the principles out-
lined above has been described to Towne
(1980). His system — called Aide for
Automated Instruction Direction and
Exercise — which has been used for train-
ing radar technicians depends upon ran-
dom access to 1 25 images that are stored
on 35mm. slides. This database contains
only sufficient slides to test and evaluate
the system. A more realistic database
might contain about 1 ,000 images which
vary widely in the amount of detail they
contain.
References
Barker. PG and Jones. PS. Syntactic Definition and Parsing of
Molecular Formulae. Part 2: Graphical Synthesis of Molecular
Formulae for Data Base Queries. The Computer Journal.
Volume 21. No. 3. 224-233. 1978.
Barker. PG and Yeates. H. Problems Associated with Multi-
Media Data Base Systems. 331-344. Proceedings of the 1 0th
Annual ASEE/IEEE C onference — Frontiers In Education.
Houston. Texas. 20-22nd October i980, Reprinted in the
British Journal of Educational Technology. January I ‘>81.
Barker. PG and Yeates, H. Teletext Systems — Courseware
for a Multi-media Teaching System. Interactive Systems
Group. April 1980.
Barker. PG. Experiments with a l ight Pen and Hand Print
Terminal Attachments for a Microcomputer. Interactive
Systems Group Working Paper. 1981.
Stablctron Limited, 2(>0 Hunts Pond Road. Titchfield Com-
mon. Farcham. Hampshire 1*014 4PH. Stablctron Informa-
tion Retrieval Systems and Opto- Mechanical Electronics.
January 1980.
Stonebraker. MR and McDonald. N. CUPID — The Friendly
Query Language, Paper presented at the loth IF1P/IAG Data
Base Workshop. Brussels. 14-17 December 1975.
Texas Instruments Limited. The TI L Data Book for Design
Engineers. 4th Edition. Publication Number LCC41 12. ISBN:
0-904047-27-X. 1980.
Towne. TN. The Automated Integration of Training and
Aiding Information for the Operator/Technician, private com-
munication. January 1980.
Yeates. H, Some Experiments in Man-Machine Interaction
Relevant to Computer Assisted Learning. MSc Thesis.
University of Durham. 1981. rn
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
101
TURBOCHARGED PERFORMANCE:
OEM, system house and dealer enquiries are invited.
User-defined program auto-load
at cold or warm start.
Disks can be changed at any
time without warm start delays.
Command files may be nested
to any depth.
User programs may activate
command files for execution.
Communications channel
interface.
Real-time clock support.
Systems are easy to configure
due to modular construction.
CP/M is a trademark of Digital Research
S3
0 *
VAO
3Y#
Circle No. 16(
Start a stopwatch on our new
Turbocharged Series 5000SX and
Series 8000SX microsystems and
watch them run rings around
other systems.
Built to the highest standard of
reliability , they support a mixture
of 5in and 8in floppy and
Winchester drives with tape back-
up units. In other words, a storage
capability extending from 400KB
to 130MB.
But what makes the Series
5000SX and Series 8000SX really
pull away from the rest of the field
is their unique and exceptionally
powerful disk operating system -
TURBOdos. Written specifically for
the Z80, TURBOdos loads
programs up to six times quicker
than CP/M*. And processes files up
to five times faster.
TURBOdos gives the new systems
many of the features available only
on minicomputers. In multi-user
mode , it allows multi-processor
network users to share mass
storage, printers and other
peripherals. And its advanced
failure detection and recovery
facility makes a TURBOdos system
virtually crash-proof I Other
features include:
Full CP/M compatibility even in
multi-user/network systems.
Up to 30% more data can be
stored on each floppy disk,
compared to CP/M.
Support for up to 2000MB of
hard disk storage.
Random access to files up to
67MB.
Up to 16 users supported in
multi-processor mode.
Automatic concurrent print-
spooling support for up to 16
printers.
File and record-locking facilities.
Complete diagnostic self-test is
performed at every start-up.
Read after write verification of
all disk update operations.
When errors are detected,
operator is given clear
diagnostic messages and a
variety of recovery options.
102
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
IT 82
INFORMATION
TECHNOLOGY
Martin Hayman looks ahead to
the coming year’s efforts to
educate the public in the ever-
increasing applications of
microelectronics.
“WE are ENTERING an exciting era; we are
seeing the home of the future, the office
of the future and the factory of the future
emerge from the realms of science fiction
and become reality". Thus Kenneth
Baker, the Minister for Information
Technology at the launch of Information
Technology Year 82.
Difficult concepts
The fact that the future has arrived — a
little behind schedule, but with the usual
crew on board — will be dinned into even
the deafest of ears during this year of
information technology. Few will be able
to avoid the sound of newly-enthused
public servants singing the praises of awk-
ward, ambivalent and slippery concepts
such as “convergence". The humble tele-
phone will appear pregnant with
unknown possibilities, with its recently-
conceived spawn of potential “informa-
tion product".
Even the more traditionally-minded
will not find their recreations undisturbed
by the information monster. Young
couples who fancy a day out examining
cutlery, video-cassette recorders and
Page Three models at the Ideal Home
Exhibition; florid farmers looking for-
ward to a day out at the County Show
discussing the merits of breeds of fatstock
and the vintages of claret; the bedizened
ballet-goer and the benighted microcom-
puter enthusiast: all will find the message
of IT Year 82 piggybacking what they
think of as their own show, and soliciting
their attention.
Information Technology is not an easy
topic to sell. It is particularly difficult to
sell awareness of information technology.
It is a topic crammed with difficult con-
cepts as well as some useful but easily-
misunderstood products — is Space
Invaders IT? Public opinion is divided on
this question, say psephologists. It has
Year of the
data monster
some specific and cost-effective applica-
tions which many people feel may militate
against the stability, familiarity and, in the
long run, the quality of their lives.
Briefly, this is the outline of IT Year
82's aims:
• to increase familiarity among the general
public of IT’s uses and effects on learning,
work and leisure;
• to promote its use in education, health and
social services;
• to improve the efficiency of services pro-
vided by the public and private sectors of
industry, commerce and administration by
ITs use;
• to encourage automation in factories;
• to increase management’s awareness of
the services and products which can be
bought in the home market.
This is a broad brief, broadly interpreted,
and the means of achieving these aims are
manifold, ranging from the cunning to the
banal.
Though Kenneth Baker is seen as the
Svengali of the whole operation, respon-
sibility for IT Year is devolved on to a
separate, limited company known as IT
Year 82 Ltd chaired by Kenneth Barnes.
This organisation co-ordinates the many
activities which can be drawn together
under the IT Year umbrella, and includes
many projects funded by the Industry
Department under schemes such as
MAP.
Sample opinions
IT Year Ltd has a budget of £600,000,
and much of its work consists simply of
enthusing key figures to spread the word.
It also has the task of sifting through the
many projects received from individuals
and small organisations, and endorsing
them with the IT Year sticker.
The Industry Department itself has
only limited funds for specifically II' Year
82 publicity. However, it is sending six
trailers out on the road equipped with
demonstration “office of the future"
equipment. The Microtrain is funded
from an existing budget for the Micro-
processor Application Project.
There is, however, trouble in the DoFs
camp. Its own prestige, all-British pro-
ject, intended as an example to the rest of
Whitehall and to industry, was to have
been a 40-plus terminal GEC Viewdata
system for internal information handling.
But this showpiece has been blocked by
the department's own civil servants, who
insist that they will not use the new system
until a suitable pay deal has been thrashed
out.
Conveniently, pollsters MORI have
surveyed a sample of the opinions of
members of the public and professionals
— in the form of the journalists attending
the launch of IT Year 82 — on their hopes
and fears for IT. The results arc interest-
ing. As you would expect, the vast majo-
rity of people who attended the launch
wanted to know more about FT — more
than twice as many as those drawn from
the public. Two out of five of the public
said they wanted to know more, two out
of five said they didn't know; and one out
of five said they didn't want to know.
Good for others
One of the most telling questions asked
“Which of the following things do you
think are likely to happen as a result of
IT?". Here the professionals were at
variance with the public. More than a
third of the professionals thought that IT
would increase unemployment — slightly
higher than those in the public — 28 per
cent — who thought it would do so.
As a very general proposition, it
appears that people are, on the whole,
convinced that IT is a Good Thing — for
someone else. Industry will benefit,
nobody doubts; its performance and pro-
fits will be improved. Their kids will learn
with the help of IT, both at school and at
home. But they fail, on the whole, to
discern what benefits will specifically
accrue to them in their own lives, particu-
larly — and here I speculate — because
they do not know what specific products
or services will be of use to them.
Some of the people in IT Year are
addressing themselves to this problem.
John Dawson, for example, who is the
head of the medical sub-committee, des-
cribed to me a product known as the
granny alarm. In the first place, this
requires telephones to be installed in the
homes of aged and infirm people, this is
the basic IT link. The infirm person is
then equipped with a small radio trans-
mitter which includes an alarm which, if
not cancelled, sends a call out to a central
computer. The computer in turn makes
three calls: one to a nominated relative,
one to the next-door neighbour and one
to the district nurse. This is basically easy-
stuff — not at the sharp edge, you might
say. Yet this is the sort of project by which
the public will be won round to IT.
Providing useful information and use-
ful products that people can understand
and make use of, and which will improve
their communication with their fellows:
this is the most important concern of IT
Year 82. It is by no means an easy task,
but it is one which, on first sight, is not
being shirked. Q I
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
103
Pete & Pam Computers,
fcippkz computer
: m
Competitive Quotei and Personal Service
Ring Chris Glliard in London — Pete or Pam Fisher in Lancashire
Now over 500 items for APPLE in stock
Fall catalogue and description are available
Apple Galaxtan Galaxy War. Head-On Galactic Revolution - Galactic Tradct Galactic
Empire Mystery House Bridge Partner Checker King — Gammon Gambler Roulette —
Craps Apple 2 1 Puckman Global War Space Warrior Apple Typhoon Sneekers
Galactic Attack Gorgon by Nasir All at £12 95
Microsoft Adventure ABM Dog Fight Phantoms Five - Orbttron Pulsar Mn roehess
2 Odyessy LA Land Monopoly - Morloc s Tower Rescue at Rigei Space Fggs
Trilogy of Games The Prisoner Raster Blaster - Autobahn Space Raiders Tawala s
Last Redoubt Gamma Goblins — Apple Panic - Cops and Robbers All at £14 95
Computer Conflict - Computet Quarterback Cartels and Cutthroats Space Album Bill
Budge 3D Graphics Tutor Cyber Strike t Mile Island Adventure ’H'» Hi Re-. 'v
Temples of Apshar - Heilfire Warrior Zork Computer Baseball President Elec I The
Battle of Shiloh - Tigers in the Snow Warp Factor Computer Conflict All at £20 95
Computer Air Combat - Computet Ambush Computet Bismark Operation Apocalypse
Torpedo Fire Shattered Alliance All at £29 95
OLYMPIC DECATHLON from Microsoft £12 95
Superb Hi-Res Graphics Winner of this year s WCCF prize for creative pr.'gramming
FL1CHT SIMULATOR by Sab tojlc Dlik £ 1 9 95
Sorealistic- you might feel airsu k’ he warned Cassette £14 95
DRAGON FIRE from Dakin Corp £29 95
VERSA EXPANDER PORT £12 95
An expansion cable ZIP socket for the Applr game! O socket allow
peripherals requiring connection to game socket
SENSIBLE SOFTWARE UTILITIES
Applasoft Programme Optimise r
Mailt Dlak HI
Soper Dtak Copy III
DOS Pla*
Dlak Organiser II
Dtak Recovery
Applesoft Plai Structured Bade
DAKIN 5 PROG AH S 3 3
PASCAL TUTOR
If you want to learn Pascal this i-
the package to use complete with two disks
- all the utilities you wanted to use but never had time
£12 95
£14 95
£17 95
£17 95
£17 95
£17 95
£14 95
£49 00
£79 00
£79 00
o write
£89 00
PASCAL PROGRAMMER
The Pascal programmer s dream
RAMCARD
A 16k Expansion card for you Apple It will provide additional men
from a System Master and is fully comparable with Apple s Pascal System The only hoard with
Neon Read/Wrtte indicators The only card with data bus tines for faster data retrieval
RAMEXI6 £75 00
UK entrant to the expansion card market does nor need lo be ribboned to the memory area
MEMORY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM £29 00
A utility that moves DOS Onto a I 6 K expansion card freeing motherboard Ram space tor larger
programs
280 SOFTCARD £195 00
A 2-80 microprocessor for Apple wnes wit M operating sysu
COBOL 80
FORTRAN 80
BASIC COMPILER
ASSEMBLY LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT (6502, 8080 and 2 80)
2 TERM £ jg oo
that allows you to emulate the terminal of your c houe whilst using Apple with a 7 HO
80 COLUMN BOARDS
SUP-R-TERMINAL £, 95 00
,Ut * £185 00
NEC GREEN SCREEN MONITOR
WORDSTAR for APPLE
If you want the bes, ,n word Apple then WORDSTAR ,s the answer Very well
documented and great to use Requires the installation of a / HO Snftcard
MAILMERGE
Allows you to maintain name and address lists and merge lields into text to torm letters etc
SOFTKEY £74 00
IFTKEY to permit use of programmable pad with WORDSTAR £39 00
ABT NUMERICAL KEYPAD £74 95
V1SICALC 3 3
At last Vtsrcalc c
included
VISIDEX
New from Personal Softcard type in whatever key
the info to be associated with and store away
VISITERM
Allows your computer to communicate with larger computers or otnet personal
your persona! computer with your < ompany s mainframe
VISIPLOT
Automatically creates high resolution graphs and charts Visualise data m
and b different colours Data can be directly entered <r data tiles loaded ir.
£299 00
£109 95
£199 00
£79 00
£169 00
£169 00
£69 00
ifds phase dates or numbers yoi
£79 00
computers Link
£85 00
different formats
VISIf At t 13
VISITREND £I2900
' ’ ■
production figures In. hides multi line regress cumulative total percent charge- lead 'lag moving
averages smoothing and various transformations which lei eat. new v,. ru . s ‘ ti„.
pa.kage also includes VISIPIOT
VISIFILE
New data base f
n Personal Software
DB MASTER
III.- data base with 100 fields operating on multi diskette files lor large , apa. u
DB MASTER Utility Pack No I
1 inks DB Master with Apple vx
fields and more
DB MASTER for Corves — available soon
INFORMATION MASTER - Data Base
A dream to use has advanced facilities ai. h as global change and calculator mode . .f ,-
figures A system that a novi.e . an use w ith ease
DATA MASTER
A utility for use with INfi iRMAIMN MAST! R allows ihe -.p',»-ng f data ‘ ase sy-.ten
. fiange . '( field types and ttansfei . »t print tormats
TRANSIT
A "htuy rha! en.it les you t. link INI t >RMATION MASTFR r. many file u u.fcng ttios.
£139 00
£129 95
£295 00
£79 00
£55 00
n selectivity
APPLE SYSTEM SALES AND SERVICE
IN BOTH LONDON AND LANCASHIRE
UP TO 82K FOR VISICALC
Saturn System 32K Ram board and their
software package.
Visicalc-Expand can give additional
memory for Visicalc applications.
32K single board gives 47K.
16K card + one Saturn board gives
66K.
2 Saturn boards give 82K.
Board comes with DOS relocation,
pseudo disk Applesoft integer utilities.
Single Board £149.00
Visicalc-Expand software £55.00
APPLE OS9
STELLATION TWO'S MILL 6809
Is available with OS9 and
BASIC 09 — NOW.
BASIC 09 allows simultaneous
running of separate programs. It has
to be seen to be believed — (OS9 is
modelled along the lines of UNIX).
£399.00 + VAT
PASCAL JOB CONTROL SYSTEM - from High Technology
heated ntr ting sysi
reports .md maintaining SO cost centre-, with 500 sub cost centres Worth
£295 00
400 jobs providing useful
■‘ L ‘ weigh! in gold 1
REMOTE OPERATING SYSTEM - ROS £499 00
multiple Apple II user-, with the capability of utilising the disk Menage available from
, tie control Apple Up to 127 remote computers may be connected to one central Apple containing
up to H floppy disk drives starter system (1 central ♦ 2 remote boards) with software and cables
’■ board £124 00
64K RAM CARDS
Here at last 1 Can be used in parrs to emulate a disk drive
2 cards and card emulating software ,<, Q
Stnglt bo,td
TASC - THE APPLESOFT COMPILER £ 1 09 00
A two pass compiler from Microsoft the Applesoft authors ( ornes with extensive documentation
improvement m spec ” Cdn l an V length of programme From 2 to 20 times
THE MILL — A 6809 plag-fn board for Apple £249 95
t an run at full speed whilst the 6502 run-, at 20 Comes with either a Pascal speed ui
kit lo increase the speed of execution of Apple s U65D pascal or ., 6809 assembler
Also available a debugging utility
COMING SOON OS9 ( iperating system
APPLE MUSIC THEORY £29 95
MOUNTAIN CPS — Maltt-fanctlon Card £135 00
A bidirectional serial interface parallel port and clock c alendar card all on one board Can
be made to use phantom slots
VISIWRITER
SujH-th graphics labler from Versa Computing you don i have to
Graphics Tablet for graphics capability
VERSA EXPANSION SOFTWARE , 2Q 9S
Auxiliary pack for the VISIWRITFR includes the ability to draw ,n fine detail using magnification mode
EPSON MX 80 F/T £398 00
EPSON MX 80 T
Tractor feed only
INTERFACE AND CABLE
For the above (non graphic )
GRAPPLER from Orange Micro £99 0
I 1 •• •
pr. 'gramme in POM producing 2 -.i/es of picture and 360 degrees rotation with positive or
negative image
AIO INTERFACE from SSM £119 9
MACHINE COVERS — only the b*(l materia! used
Apple only
Single Dltk
2 sucked disks
Apple. 2 disks and 9' monitor or Apple and 12" monitor
Apple and 2 disk
Epson MX 70/80
Paper Tfger 445 - 460
£149 95
the expense of an Apple
£349 00
£65 00
BASF DISKS (for 10)
LONDON RETAIL *H V
Tel <»| t.tl 2052 ' 141
£5 95
£2 95
£4 45
£8 95
£7 95
£5 45
£5 45
£18 50
Authorised Apple Sales and Service
,M-r R.sid I -nj.-ti sWIr. r>SH
MAIL ORDER AND DISTRIBUTION. W.i - c ire I v. V. . . , .
R.'sseri.J.ile : ■. Hfl.J rsn
lei Rossendale »< I Mr.i // '<*11
104
Circle No. 161
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
• Circle No. 162 ►
DO NOT ADJUST YOUR SET!
Digitek International Ltd . Unit 14. Grafton Place.
Dukes Park Industrial Estate. Chelmsford. Essex. England
° CIUC " pho '°gra P h la ken
Thafs the colour
of the Digitek PAL
Encoder Card for A
APPLE II computers, , r
Featuring an on-board UHF modulator
and the unique Digitek ‘Safety Tab’ for
sure, easy handling.
This principal member of the Digitek M
range of Apple expander cards not only (fl
gives the best quality PAL version of the
Apple’s colour graphics capabilities, but is
also simplicity itself to install.
One plug-in card is all it takes to transform
your dull display into a techni-colour master-
piece.
Also in the Expander Range are a 16k Ramcard,
Z80 Expansion card, High speed serial interface,
and more!
Send in the coupon for details and your nearest
stockist.
EXPANDER C4RD SERIES
The people who are really into Apples,
FEATURES
• Powerful Z-80A 4MHz
Processor
• Memory 64K - 256K
• High Resolution Multi-
Colour Graphics CRT
• CP/M*
• Versatile, ‘Easy-to-Use’
BASIC
• Twin set of Programmable
Function Keys
• Integral 80 cps Printer
• 400K x 2 Floppy disks
OPTIONS
• 8 inch Floppy Disk Unit
• 10 mb Winchester Drive^'
• I/O Expander Unit
• 132 Column Printer
• Paper Tape Reader & Punch
• 5 inch Floppy Disk Unit
• XY Plotter
• Digitizer
• Light Pen
• ROM Cartridge
INTERFACES
• RS-232C
• Centronics Parallel Interface
• IEEE-488 Instrumentation
Interface
• Analogue-Digital and
Digital-Analogue >
converters
SOFTWARE
• Extensive range of business
application software to meet
all requirements.
KGB Micros Ltd 14 Windsor Road, Slough,
Berks. SL1 1EL. Tel: Slough 38581/38310
Encotel Systems Ltd 530-539 Purley Way,
Croydon, Surrey. Tel: 01-686 9687
The if 800 brings a new and
colourful dimension to
business and personal
computing. Now you can enjoy
and benefit from extensive
multi-coloured graphics and
a CP/M* environment on the
same compact system.
Built around a CPU using
the high speed Z-80A
processor, the if 800 combines
keyboard, hard-copy 5x7 dot
80 cps printer, twin 400K
5 inch floppy disk drives, high
resolution colour display, and
every type of interface into
one complete unit.
Just look at some of the
fantastic features, facilities, and
options offered on the if 800
a truly versatile and fully
integrated computer system
that more than meets the
dem ands and varied apf
tions in today’s world of
business information
processing.
To discover the exciting new
horizons of if 800 Multicolour
Graphics computing, complete
■' v ■-•••.
f -•** • J
the coupon below or tele-
phone us or our Distributors.
* CP/M is a registered trade mark of Digital Research
Sinclair Owners!
We’ll give you £80 trade-in
when yon trade-npl’
PET
commodore
CBM
computer
£ E commodore
COMPUTER
Our offer will be of special interest to those who’ve found
the popular Sinclaira fine introduction to computing.
True , there’s no better va I ue at u nder £ 1 00 . However, as
your skills increase, you may find you need a
microcomputerwith greater memory, expansion
capability and performance.
If so, PET, the Commodore microcomputer, is the
natural choice. It has a range of memories from 16Kto
96K, full size typewriter keyboard and integral display
that gives upperand lowercase plusgraphics, with ease
of connection to a full range of peripherals including
printers and floppy disk drives. There is also an
enormous library of software which includes everything
from the sciences and education to business
applications-aswell as fun and games. All that you’d
expect from a company that has been in electronics for
over 20 years.
It’s very simple to use and should you need any
assistance or advice there’s the reliable back-up of our
nationwide dealer network. There's bound to be one near
you so you can be confident that help will never be far
away.
So, send back the coupon to take us up on our £50
trade-in. There’s never been a better time to enjoy
trading-up.
Applications
School’s workhorse
ploughs new ground
raffles and “name the doll” competi-
tions are the staple ingredients of the
fetes, bazaars, and fairs which dominate
village life throughout the U.K. most
weekends of the year. Normally, the
event’s organisers will call on the services
of the town mayor, local MP or district
celebrity to pull the winning number out
of the hat. announce the correct name or
present the prizes.
Impartial judge
Not so at this year's Autumn Fair at
Gunnislake County Primary School in
East Cornwall, where the impartiality of
the judging could scarcely be challenged
— the judge in question just happened to
be a Tandy TRS-80 16K level 2 micro.
Gunnislake School, with some 75
pupils on its roll, is one of the many
primary and secondary schools in Britain
currently appreciating the value of micros
as the ultimate in visual aids. For this
Tandy is not just a mechanical toy adding
a touch of novelty to the annual fair, but
in fact a flexible workhorse already reap-
ing dividends in teaching tables, improv-
ing reading speeds and providing an
insight into the mysteries of musical nota-
tion.
The history of the school's Tandy goes
back to the last AGM of the Parent-
Teacher Association when headmaster
Roy Olver was asked to produce an idea
for the next fund-raising project. Since
the school already owned a photocopier,
a duplicator and a projector, Olver sug-
gested — with tongue in cheek — “we
Circle No. 164
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
When a primary-school
headmaster discovered a Tandy
TRS-80 in a Plymouth second-
hand shop, he little suspected
the impact it would make on his
life or his pupils. David Ireland
reports.
could always do with a computer”.
Tongue in check or not, the parents and
teachers liked the idea, so headmaster
Olver set about picking the brains of local
computer experts, with a view to selecting
a model appropriate to the school's
needs. At the College of St Mark and St
John in Plymouth, one of the 13 institu-
tions researching the educational appli-
cations of micros, the computer team
recommended Pets, Apples and in parti-
cular the 380-Z.
Roy Olver's fact-finding mission then
took him to Plymouth Polytechnic to look
at its Pets, and to Callington Com-
prehensive in East Cornwall, where he
was given a useful introduction into com-
puter lore and the potential of the 380-Z
by the physics master, Mr Milne.
In schools of this size, though, where
any item of hardware not provided by the
educational authority is a luxury, cost is
inevitably a limiting factor, and the 380-Z
was frankly beyond the means of the
PTA. However, the Hortons, parents
with a child in the fourth year at the time,
happened to run a second-hand shop in
Plymouth, and it was by pure chance that
Olver discovered a Tandy there looking
for a new home.
The TRS-80 was officially acquired on
February 1 2, but that was only the start of
Roy Olver’s troubles — or fun, depending
on which way you look at it. For although
Olver is a mathematician with a degree
behind him, he admits he was “com-
pletely green” when he was confronted by
the micro for the first time.
But nothing ventured, nothing gained,
he made a return trip to Plymouth Poly-
technic to borrow a book on Basic, and
burnt the midnight oil studying the
manuals which accompanied the Tandy.
Fortunately, he was in the ironic position
of being able to ask his sons for help with
his homework — it was a family interest in
computers which encouraged him to push
for a micro in the first place.
Family enthusiasm
“I had seen one or two before, and if I
had not got that experience behind me, I
would not have gone ahead”, Roy Olver
admits. The family enthusiasm stems
from one son, Mervyn, in the sixth form at
Callington School, who is extremely keen
on 380-Zs, and an elder son, Phillip, who
is a full-time programmer working on
minis with the South West Water Autho-
rity in Exeter.
In the early days, it was very much a
case of finding his way, and Olver was
glad to be able to call on the collective
wisdom of the family. “When I've found
myself in difficulties. I've asked my son
(continued on next page)
109
Applications
(continued from previous page)
when he returns home from Exeter”', he
explains.
While it is still somewhat hit and miss at
this stage, Roy Olver is gradually growing
used to the micro world, and thanks to his
two sons, his reading and a mathematical
background which helped with Basic, he
has already designed some ambitious pro-
grams which have proved a godsend for
pupils tackling the 3Rs.
A mathematics program asks random
questions which test the pupils' know-
ledge of all their tables, or can test, for
example, just the seven times table. This
program includes an element of competi-
tion which works psychological wonders
in encouraging pupils to rattle off multi-
plication sums.
Much more fun
The Tandy will first obtain the names of
the two pupils taking part in the educa-
tional contest, and then establish how
many questions are to be asked, and
whether one table or any table up to 1 0 is
to be tested. The micro will then fire a
random question — the same question
can recur only once every six times — and
the pupil must key the correct answer.
If the answer is right, Tandy says
“good” and awards one point to the pupil
in question before handing over to the
other competitor. If the answer is wrong,
the Tandy lets the pupil have a further
crack at the sum, before flashing a
numerical display of grouped stars which
enables the pupil to see visually the
mechanics of the sum.
Nine-year-old Hilary Jury and Love-
day Pope, 10, were level pegging on my
visit, and according to Hilary: “It's much
more fun learning like this”.
Probably the next impressive program
currently in the Gunnislake School reper-
toire is a faster reading exercise operating
from level one to nine according to the
time interval at which blocks of words
appear on the screen. An interesting fea-
ture of this program is that a dot appears
over the central letter of the word block,
so that children learn to focus on related
word groups, such as a subject, verb and
object, instead of seeing the written page
as a confusing jumble of individual and
unconnected words.
Roy Olver reports that there was one
pupil who was quite hesitant with her
reading, and that it was surprising how
much faster she became once she was let
loose on the micro. A disadvantage of this
program in the past was that the Tandy
would print only upper case, so in the
summer holiday, Olver made a trip to
Plymouth to have a £30 modification car-
ried out on the TRS-80, which will now
print lower case, thus helping reading for
infants.
Another, perhaps end-of-term pro-
gram, is the popular word game Hang-
man, and here the children have a glimpse
of the human side of computers, for if the
pupil guesses the word correctly, the
Tandy will retort: “You have got away
this time — I'll get you next time”.
The potential of the school's Tandy is
still largely untapped, but other programs
used include fraction questions — where
the pupil must supply the missing figure
from two equivalent fractions — a guide
to maximum and minimum temperatures,
and an introduction to musical notation,
where the notes are characterised bar by
bar — the program does not proceed until
the correct note value has been given.
Conflicting verdict
In view of the scope of the TRS-80, and
its advertised claims to being the “best-
selling computer of all time”, Roy Olver
is surprised that TRS-80s are not thicker
on the ground in the educational field. In
fact, at an Exeter conference held last
Easter, there was not a TRS-80 in sight
which led Olver and other Tandy enthu-
siasts to ask whether they could set up a
TRS-80 corner.
Still, if the message from this rural vill-
age school reaches wider ears, the TRS-
80 should be placed more firmly on the
educational map. According to Roy
Olver, a micro is “the kind of thing you
get hooked on”. His wife, something of a
traditionalist, has a different verdiet on
this latest teaching aid. A “time waster” is
her verdict of the Tandy TRS-80 16K
level 2. Q
wanted a word with you
A SHORT MESSAGE FROM NS TO LRT YOU KMOM
THAT... DAO 10 RICHARDS LIMITED. . .RUiRVS
HAMS IN STOCK AMPLE SUPPLIES OP CONPUTCR
listing prpsr in rll sizss.
THEY ALSO SUPPLY RLL KINDS OP PRINTED
CONTINUOUS STRT I ONERY . < LETTERHEAD I NOS .
INVOICES. STATEMENTS. ETC. . ETC >
IP YOU ARE INTERESTED TELEPHONE
SI-92S 9624
THEY LOOK PORMARO TO YOUR ENQUIRIES.
David Richard- f
110
• Circle No. 165
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
Z-80 Zodiac
Unreliable Get
A PROBLEM developed when some of the
file-handling routines on my Sharp MZ-
80K appeared to give unreliable perform-
ance, writes George Hayter of Lancaster.
This was traced to the unpredictable
behaviour of Get statements which were
apparently ignored randomly.
The fault was due to occasional appear-
ances of a graphics character as a result of
the Get command. If you run the follow-
ing program:
*10 FOR 1=1 TO 5
20 GET R$:IF R$=“”THEN 20
30 ?R$
40 NEXT I
the result is a single graphics character
followed by the expected operation four
times. It appears to be caused by the
program looking at the keyboard before
the CR key has been cleared.
For secure operation use:
20 GET R$: IF(R$= ,,M ) OR (ASC(R$) = 102)
THEN 20
to overcome the trouble.
Sorcerer graphics
I AM always amazed to see the quantity
of published programs for Pet, Apple
and TRS-80, while Sorcerer programs are
relatively rare, writes Hans Middelbeek
of Goirle, Netherlands. Sorcerer users
must be far too busy working with their
equipment to write down any of their
experiences. Clearly the Sorcerer has
possibilities not offered by other micros,
and it would be useful to have a more
regular exchange of programs.
The Sorcerer's high-resolution graph-
ics and its capability of working in Z-80
machine language are two of the major
advantages of the machine.
In order to make good use of the high-
resolution graphic capabilities the pro-
grammer must first know the basic princi-
ple of the display. The Sorcerer has a
memory-mapped display, so every posi-
tion on the screen has its own address in
RAM. With 64 characters per line and 30
lines in total there are 1,920 possible posi-
tions. An ASCII code can be entered into
any of these addresses, causing the
ASCII-coded character to appear on the
corresponding position.
The first address of the screen memory
is F080 hex. Hexadecimal addresses are
difficult to use in Basic programs, and
Sorcerer’s manual states that every
memory address exceeding 32767 deci-
mal — 7FFF hex — must be written in
twos-complement, so you have to sub-
tract 65536 from the address. The
address F080 therefore becomes -3968
in decimal notation.
The range of addresses for the display is
3968 decimal — F080H — to -2049
decimal — F7FFH. The following for-
mula can be used to calculate a position
anywhere on the screen:
— 3968 + X + 64* Y; (0<! X^63, 0<Y<29)
For this purpose try the program
10 INPUT "X, Y:"; X, Y
20 POKE (-3968 4- X + 64 * Y), 42
which places an asterisk on the screen. In
total 64 x 30 or 1920 positions are poss-
ible. For many purposes this degree of
resolution is sufficient.
The high-resolution graphics program
is written in machine language. It might
be difficult for users to understand, so its
function is first explained in Basic.
If one of the display addresses contains,
for example, the number 41 — “A” —
then the computer checks the ASCII cha-
racter memory, starting at F800 hex or
- 2048, to discover how this character has
to be displayed. Every character is
defined by eight bytes in the memory,
which is split up in two parts:
• a fixed, ROM-based part, containing the
information for 128 standard ASCII char-
acters.
• a programmable, RAM-based part which
can be used for the programmable cha-
racters; half of this memory is filled at restart
with Sorcerer-selected graphics.
The graphics program is not concerned
with the first part as the contents are
changed. However, the second part,
which starts at FC00 hex, or -1024, offers
the possibility of programming 128 user-
defined characters. Character 128 is
defined by the eight bytes starting with
FC00. The first byte defines how the
upper row of the character will look, the
second byte defines the second row, and
so on.
If this first byte is zero the row is dark;
255 defines a continuous bright row, and
1 gives a bright dot on the top right of the
character.
For a clearer insight, try the following
program:
10 FOR X=0 TO 7
20 POKE -1024 + X,2 A X
30 NEXT
40 POKE -3968, 128
(continued on next page)
Sorcerer machine code.
3C
INC A
, + 1
CE
7F
BIT 7, A
, TOO MUCH CHAR?
20
3B
JR NZ, END-*
RET IF SO
F5
PUSH RF
;
32
00
00
LD <0000), A
; RESTORE
C5
PUSH EC
;
16
7F
LD D,7F
D5
PUSH DE
;
82
ADD A, D
;CH+1 27
E5
PUSH HL
*
77
LD<HL ) , A
• CHAR ON SCREEN
ED 5B
EE
01 LD DE .. < 0 1 EE >
, THIS
2A
00
00
LD HL, <0000)
; CHAR NR IN HL
2fi C8
01
LD HL,<01C0>
; SHORT
18
05
JR CONT-S
•
3E 00
LD A , 0
; PART
FE
OLDCH
LD A, <HL>
, RESTORE CHAR ON SCREEN
32 Cl
01
LD <01C1),R
; TO
06
7F
LD B, 7F
CD 22
SLR D
, DECODE
90
SUE A,B
; CORRECT
CE 15
RL L
, THE
6F
LD L, A
CB 14
RL H
; USR
26
00
CONT
LD H, 0
•
CE 22
SLR D
; FUNCTION
2B
DEC HL
;CH-i
CE 15
RL L
; CALLS
29
ADD HL, HL
; MULT I PLY
CE 14
.RL H
;x AND V POSITION
29
ADD HL, HL
; BY 8
30 05
JR NC.LOW-*
;X MORE THAN 255?
29
ADD HL, HL
;8*<CH-l)
3E 01
LD A, 1
; VES
EE
EX DE,HL
; IN DE
32 Cl
01
LD <01Cl),fi
; SAV SO IN 01C1
3A
EF
01
LD A , < 0 1 EF )
; V IN A
?C
LOW LD A,H
;
E6
07
AND 07
; 8# < V/8- 1 NT < V/8 ) ) IN A
32 C0
01
LD ':01C0>,fi
;x MOD <256) IN 01C0
21
00
FC
LD HL, FC00
; 1st A DDR CHAR MEM.
?D
LD A,L
; V IN A
4F
LD C, A
;
32 BF
01
LD <01BF),A
;V IN01BF
06
00
LD E, 0
•
2A C0
01
LD HL , 0 1 C 0
,X IN HL
09
ADD HL, EC
; CALC ADDRESS
CB 3C
SRL H
; START
19
ADD HL , DE
; IN CHAR MEMORY
CE ID
RR L
; CALCULATION
3A
C0
01
LD A, <01C0)
;x MOD <256) IN A
CE 3D
SRL L
OF
E6
07
AND 07
; 8# < X/8- 1 NT < X/8 ) ) IN A
CB 3D
SRL L
, INT <X/3)
A?
AND A
, ZERO ?
E5
PUSH HL
, SAVE ON STACK
28
09
JR Z, FSTB-*
; VES JUMP
E6 F8
R HD F8
; 8# I NT < V/8 ) IN A REG
0E
40
LD C, 40
6F
LD L,R
;
3D
LOOP
DEC A
; SEARCH BIT
26 O0
LD H,0
; NOW IN HL
28
06
JR Z, LOAD-*
; JUMP IF READY
29
RDD HL,HL
; MULTIPLY
CE
39
SRL, C
, ADJUST BIT
29
ADD HL, HL
, BY 8
18
F9
JR LOOP-*
, NEXT
29
ADD HL , HL
; 64# < I NT < V/8) ) IN HL
0E
80
FSTE
LD C , 80
: ADJUST FIRST BIT
01 80
F0
LD EC, F080
; 1st SCREEN ADDRESS
7E
LOAD
LD A, (HL)
, RESTORE CHAR
09
ADD HL , EC
;
El
OR C
; PLACE PIXEL
Cl
POP EC
;
77
LD < HL ) , A
; IN CHAR MEMORY
06 00
LD B,0
;
El
END
POP HL
09
RDD HL , EC
; SCREEN ADDRESS IN HL
D1
POP DE
•
CB 7E
BIT 7* <HL)
, ALREADY GRAPHIC?
Cl
POP EC
;
20 14
JR NZ, 0LDCH-*
; JUMP IF SO
Fl
POP AF
;
3A 00
00
LD A, <0000)
; LAST USED CHAR
f:9
RET
;
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
111
“Z-80 Zodiac
Sorcerer graphics — listing 1.
10 print CHR$ < 12)
20 FOR ft = -1024 TO -1 POKE ft,0 NEXT REM CLEfiRS CHftR. MEM
30 FOR X = 0 TO 511 • REM 0< = X < = 511 , 0< = V0239
40 V = I NT <120 + 30 * SIN <X/10>)
50 GOSUB 1O00
60 NEXT X
1000 SP = -3963 + I NT <X/8) + 64 * INT <VV8> REM SCREEN POSITION
1010 IF SP O OP THEN CH = CH + 1 REM SftME ftS PREVIOUS POS?
1020 IF SP>-2048 OR SP< -3968 THEN RETURN: REM OUT OF RANGE?
103O ftD = -1024 + <V/ - INT V/8)> # 8 + 8 # CCH-O = REM flDDR IN CHftR
MEM
1040 POKE RB, <24-: if <7-8 f<X/8 - INT <X/3>> + PEEK <flD>>>: REM PLftCE
DOT NOTE ff MEANS RAISE TO POWER OF.
1050 POKE SP, <CH + 127) REM PLftCE NEW CHftR ON SCREEN
106O OP = SP: REM PREVIOUS POS IS SET
1070 RETURN
Listing 2.
5 ?CHR$< 12)
10 FOR ft=- 1 024 TO 0=POKE ft, 0: NEXT
GOSLIB 10O00
10000 REM ft CALL IS MADE TO THE PLOT SUBR. IN MACHINE LANGUAGE
10010 POKE 260,0 POKE 261,48:REM IF ROUTINE STftRTS AT 300H
1 0020 \ 1TUS=USR <131 072+256* INT < X ) + 1 NT < V > >
10030 RETURN
Listing 3.
5 BEF FNDOT <ft>= USR < 131072+256*INT<X> + INT<V) >
10 ? CHR$< 12)
20 FOR A=-1024 TO 0 : POKE ft,0 : NEXT
30 INPUT "XI , VI , X2, V2" ; XI , VI , X2, V2
40 DX=X2-X1 B't-t 2-V1 IF ABS<BX»fiBS<BV> THEN 30
50 FOR X=X1 TO X2 STEP SGN<DX>
60 V= < DV/BX ) * < X-X 1 > + V 1 GOSUB 10000
70 NEXT X: GOTO 30
80 FOR V=V1 TO V2 STEP SGN<DV)
90 X=<DX/BV>*<V-V1 >+Xl : GOSUB 10000
100 NEXT V : GOTO 30
1000O POKE 260,0: POKE 261,43 REM ROUTINE STARTS AT 3000H
10010 NTUS=FNBOT<ft>
10020 RETURN
(continued from previous page)
It enters the following numbers in
memory: 1, 2,4,8, 16,32,64, 128, giving
the character Every position on the
screen can have 8x8, or 64, different
white spots. The 1,920 screen positions
provide 1,920 x 64, or 122,880, different
positions for a white spot.
In practice, the availability of only 128
programmable characters limits the
number of dots which can be used.
However, it is still possible to make very
high-precision graphics, which can be
shown with the program in listing 1 .
The most important line in this pro-
gram is 1040. It is assumed that point
(0,0) lies in the upper left of the screen;
(5 1 1 , 239) is the lower right position. “ 1 ”
in the character memory corresponds
with a “blob” on the right side of the
character; 128 on the left side. A “2”
corresponds with a single blob, trans-
posed one position to the left, and “3”
corresponds to two brightened pixels on
the right side. However, if a power func-
tion is used, the “3” can be made to
correspond with the third position from
the right. A simple power function would
generate a bright pixel at position 7 from
a “1” stored in memory, but the function
used in line 1040 corrects this anomaly.
This program does have some draw-
backs, and in some cases it even causes
problems — think about the Peek (AD).
It is only used to explain the way of
thinking for the final machine-language
routine. For this purpose the USR
function, which is not defined in the two
manuals, should be examined. A = USR
(X) offers three special features:
• USR makes a call to memory location 0103
hex. This address, and the following two,
contains C3E5C7 — JPC7E5 — meaning:
make a jump to address C7E5. At this
address the computer is ordered to print “FC
Error”. If the contents of location 0104 and
0105 hex are moved into the starting
address of the machine-language routine,
the program will jump to this by simply stat-
ing A = USR (0). To change these memory
contents, we have to make the following
Pokes*
POKE 260, 16: POKE 261, 0
260 is equivalent to 0104 hex, 16 is equi-
valent to 10 hex. Address HHLL is stated in
memory as LL HH, so Poking 16 in address
260 takes care that a jump is made to
address 0010 hex whenever the USR func-
tion is stated.
• The second feature is that A = USR (X)
places the value of X in a floating-point nota-
tion in the four bytes starting with 0447 or
01 BF hex.
• The thirej feature is that the value in the four
bytes starting with 0447 will be assigned to
A, for example the result of the machine-
language routine.
A floating point number in Sorcerer
Standard Basic will be stored in four bytes
according to the following format:
EE MM MM MM
exponent mantissa
+ +
128 sign
In order to be able to store both X and
Y values of one graphics point in one
floating-point number, I chose for the
following set-up:
EE Ixxxxxxx xx yy yyyyyyOO OOOO
9 bits for 8 bits for
X value Y value
To make things easy for reverse trans-
formation of X and Y values, 131,072 —
2 17 — is added to
INT (Y) + 256 * INT (X)
In this case the X value is to be found
between the sixth bit of byte 2 and the
sixth bit of byte 3. The Y value then is
located between the fifth bit of byte 3 and
the sixth bit of byte 4 of the floating-point
notation. The Basic part of the program is
shown in listing 2.
As the macfiine-language routine is
written with only relative jumps, it is
possible to place it in every free memory
you wish. Only location 0 is used by the
program to store the last used character.
These programs can act like a
DOT(x,y) statement in other computers.
A very interesting statement would be
DRAW (x1,y1,x2,y2).
For this purpose you can use the Basic
program shown in listing 3, which can also
be used as a subroutine.
Printer interface
having recently purchased a Seikosha
GP-80 printer, I connected it to my Video
Genie via an EG-3016 parallel printer
interface, writes Colin Hogben of Folke-
stone, Kent. Although it worked well
from Basic and with the Kansas system
master monitor, it did not respond to the
TRS-80 editor-assembler.
I eventually discovered that while
EDTASM tries to talk to the printer
through the memory-mapped location
37E8, the EG-3016 only communicates
with I/O port FD. These changes will
allow the printer to be used.
The changes to stop the printer double-
spacing its lines when using the Dis-
assembler function of the Kansas system
master monitor are also shown. Q
• Circle No. 166^
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
Changes for printer.
Old
New.
45CA
32 E3 37
LB <37E8H>,A
B3 FB
00 OUT
<0FBH>,A
45D8
32 E8 37
LD <37E8H),A
B3 FB
00 OUT
<0FBH>,fl
45EE
3ft E8 37
LD ft,<37E3H>
BB FB
00 IN ft
* <0FBH>
Changes for double-space suppression.
Old
New.
7968
7E
LD A,<HL>
7963
7E
" LB
ft, <HL>
7969
E5
PUSH HL
7969
FE0B
CP
0BH
796ft
CP3B00
CALL 003BH
796B
C3
RET
Z
796H
El
POP HL
796C
E5
PUSH
HL
796E
7E
LB fl,<HL>
796B
CB3B00
. ; . CALL
003BH
796 F
FE0D
CP 0BH
7970
El
POP
HL
7971
C8
RET Z
7971
00
NOP
7972
23 #
INC HL
7972
23
# INC
HL
7973
J8F3
JR 7968H
7973
18F3
JR
7968H
112
MANUFACTURING
SOFTWARE
• Bill of Materials
• Stock/WIP Control
• PWS System
(Gross Pay Computation, Piecework.
Operations, Cost Centres)
• Payroll and Accounting
CPM Compatible
HAMSTEAD INDUSTRIAL ESTATE.
OLD WALSALL ROAD. GREAT BARR.
BIRMINGHAM B42 IDF. 021-358 2436.
w
Circle No. 246
MICROCASE
"turns a board into a real computer"
For NASCOM 2
COMPUKIT
SUPERBOARD
ALSO UNCUT FOR NASCOM 1
ETC.
Direct from us or from your dealer —
but make sure you see a
GENUINE MICROCASE
SIMPLE SOFTWARE LTD ,
15 HAVELOCK ROAD
BRIGHTON. SUSSEX BN1 6GL
(0273) 504879
i
• Circle No. 247
MACHINE-CODE? EASY!
With COMPLETE course on machine-code /
Assembly language + listing of FULL
From
8K
6502 ASSEMBLER
PET
2/3/4/8000
SERIES
Covers WHOLE 6502 instruction set 200 f
Pages. Programs. Exercises, etc. PRICES (inc.
P J : PS?*-, 2 !?*’ Book •+ Assembler on: tape
£15, disk £17; State machine: SAE for details
from:
DR P HOLMES (PC), 21 COLIN DRIVE,
LONDON NW9 6ES.
• Circle No. 248
MICRO ADS
are accepted from private readers only, pre paid and in
writing, 20p per word, minimum charge £2.
Please make cheques payable to Practical Computing
and send to Room L311. Quadrant House, The Quadrant
Sutton, Surrey SM2 5/^S.
TRS-80, 1 6K, Level 2, with cassette player and
software. Tel: (08864) 275.
VIDEO GENIE AND TRS-80 (16K. Level 2)
programmers! "Auto-Graphics ’82" is the new,
easy way to draw spaceships . . . monsters
mazes . . . diagrams ... in fact any mixed/
graphic designs, straight onto the screen, and
then lock them permanently into your program.
Beginners can produce impressive graphic
displays immediately — even animation. 22
commands include many special functions that
allow typically fifty-fold time saving. Send for
free data sheet, or order cassette/booklet
(£6.95) for prompt despatch. ButterCraft Soft-
ware, 14 Western Avenue, Riddlesden(P)
Keighley, Yorks.
Apple II
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Diskwise
£198
Cyderpress
£650
CPR Systems Ltd
£960
Personal Computers
£195
Personal Computers
£100
Padmede Computers
£500
Anagram Systems
£850
Anagram Systems
£800
The Alphabet Com
£250
Microland
£175
Stage One Computers
£100
Stage One Computers
£200
Commodore BM (U.K.)
£50
CSM Ltd
£500
S A Systems
£550
L & J Computers
£420
Mandata Ltd
£1,000
Peach Data Services
£350
Peach Data Services
£550
Peach Data Services
£995
Stage One
£800
Stage One
£330
Benchmark Ltd
£350
Bytesoft
£850
Bytesoft
£150
Bytesoft
£850
Bytesoft
£200
Microtek
£500
PR Daly & Co
£450
Horizon Software
£1,000
Horizon Software
£400
Research Resources
£240
Sail
£1,000
Salmon Microcomputer
£150
Selven Systems
£400
Map Computer Systems
£450
Map Computer Systems
£750
Map Computer Systems
£425
Haywood
£500
Comput-a-Crop
£1,000
Microtek
£1,000
Micromedia
£195
Taylor Microsystems
£495
Stratheden Ltd
£300
Stratheden Ltd
Stratheden Ltd
Intelligent Artifacts
£52
Auctioneer’s package
Invoicing sales —
timber
Microfiche records
Retail warehouse
management
Insurance records
Time records —
solicitors
TV rental management
system
Auction system
Insurance brokers
system
Operational research
Time series analysis
Insurance brokers
system
Media control system
Slot machine monitor
Newsagent suite
Printers quote system
Insurance brokers
system
Printers job control
Appointments planner
Window replacement
Farming — office
systems
Machine hire
Insurance brokers
Library retrieval
system
Foot ware industry
sales reporting
Clients home
accounting
General accounting
package
Petaid/W ordcraft/
VisiCalc link
Time recording
Work in progress
Perpetual inventory
Bill of materials
Kit control
Garage system
Time recording
Integrated business
system
Costing systems
Statistical analysis
Jewellers integrated
system
Appointments planner
Nominal ledger
Time recording
Calor system
Newsboy/newsagents
system
Time recording
Farm management
Plant hire
Vehicle maintenance
Bill of materials
Statistics package
Insurance brokers
system
Hospital package
Parts list management
and ordering
170
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
Buyers’ Guide
Apple II/ITT
Padmede Computer Services £300
2,000 postings
Apple II/ITT
The Software House
£80
800 items
Commodore 3000
Intex Datalog Ltd
£195
2,400-3,700 items
Commodore 3000/8
Commodore BM (U.K.) Ltd
600-2,000 items
Commodore 3000/8
Rockliff Brothers Ltd
£275
3,400-10,000 records
Commodore 3032
Logma Systems Design
£600
1-6 shops
Commodore 3032
ACT (Petsoft) Ltd
£75
2,400 items 1,000 a/c
Commodore 3032
ACT Microsoft Ltd
£75
1,200-5,900 items
Commodore 3032
Anagram System
£320
500-600 items 255 a/c
Commodore 3032
L & J Computers
£60
500 items
Commodore 3032
Bristol Software Factory
£300
2,300 items
Commodore 3032
Stage One Computers
£100 and
£250
600-650 items
Commodore 3032
SMG Microcomputers
£395-£495 2,450-7,000 items
Commodore 3032
Compfer Ltd
£350
200 lines 20 bars
Commodore 3032/8
Compsoft Ltd
£190
13,000
CP/M
Bytesoft
£700
2,000-8,000 lines
CP/M
Compsoft Ltd
£400
27,000
CP/M
Microtek Computer Services £750
CP/M
PR Daly & Co Ltd
£350
CP/M
Great Northern CS Ltd
£375
1,500
CP/M
Haywood Associates Ltd
£350
CP/M
Median-Tec Ltd
£500-£800 1,000 items
CP/M
Microbits
£500
varies
CP/M
Graffcom Systems Ltd
£350
350 records/disc
CP/M
Salmon Microcomputing
£400
5,000 items
CP/M
Map Computer Systems Ltd
£250
CP/M
Ludhouse Ltd
£1,000
12,000 parts
CP/M
Interface Computer Services £350
varies
CP/M
Selven Systems
£600
CP/M Cromenco
Micromedia Systems
£1,000
CP/M Horizon
Microtek Computer Services £500-
£1,000
varies
CP/M North Star
Benchmark CS Ltd
£450
350 items 275 trans
CP/M Vector
Taylor Micro Systems
£995
4,000 items/Mbyte
North Star DOS
Intelligent Artifacts Ltd
£195
Exidy Sorcerer
Basic Computing
£125
Tandy TRS-80
Chess Consultancies
£995
Tandy TRS-80
A I Harding (Molimerx)
£150
1,000 items
Tandy TRS-80
Cleartone ADP
£325
4,000 items
Tandy TRS-80
Chess Consultancies
£750
500 items six sites
Tandy TRS-80
FIBS
£750
Tandy TRS-80
Micro Gems
£150
1,000 items
Tandy TRS-80
Tridata Micros Ltd
£200-£375 630 items/disc
Tandy TRS-80
Tecs
Microgems Software
Jar Software Services
Tecs Jar Software Services
Zilog MCZ range Microbits
Z-80/8080 Graham Dorian Software
Z-80/8080 Rogis Systems Ltd
Z-80 MCZ Software Architects Ltd
Z-80 Liveport Ltd
Word Processing
Machine type
Apple II
Apple II
Apple II/ITT
Apple II/ITT
Apple II/ITT
Commodore 3000
Commodore 3032
Commodore 3032
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M North Star
North Star (‘c’)
Z-80 Superbrain
Supplier name
Dataforce (U.K.) Ltd
SBD Consultants Ltd
Systematics International Ltd £75
Algobel Computers Ltd
Personal Computers Ltd
Stage One Computers Ltd
Dataview Ltd
ACT (Petsoft) Ltd
Interface Computer Services
Microbits
Intelligent Artifacts
Intelligent Artifacts
Alan Pearman Ltd
Miscellaneous
Machine type Supplier name
Apple II Vlasak Electronics
£150
1,000-2,000 items
£800
10,000 items 5,000
orders
£850
1,000 items 300 a/c
£500
2,300 items
£325
varies
£500
900-3,500 items
£600
varies
Price
£190
£60
£75
Capacity
£75
800 lines
£225-£300 200,000 characters
£125
£159
£325
12,000
£200
varies
£230
varies
£250
£250
£225
Price
Capacity
£30
Petrol pump losses
SEARCHING FOR
BEST PRICE’ . . .
FOUND BEST PRICE' . . GOTO
OUR
PET
RRP
PRICE
4016
16K
£550
£467
4032
32K
£695
£590
8032
32K
£895
£760
8096
£935
DISK DRIVES
4040
343 K
£695
£590
8050
1M
£895
£760
PRINTERS
4022
80COL
£395
£335
8024
132COL
£1160
£986
8026
DAISY
£995
£845
VAT to be added @15%
Carriage — £5 per item
If you know what you want why wait?
These are the prices you need
ORCHARD
COMPUTER SERVICES
Orchard House, 21 St. Martins St.
Wallingford, Oxon.
Tel. Wallingford (0491) 35529
Open 6 days per week.
c=
• Circle No. 243
BUSINESS & COMPUTER
SERVICES
292 Caledonian Rd., London N1 1BA.
Tel: 01-607 0157
(24 hour Answering Service)
We are Micro-computer Consultants & Pro-
grammers and specialise in industrial & com-
mercial programs written to client's specifica-
tions.
VAT & Post incl.
Cash Analyser £20.00
Vehicle Cost Analyser £25.00
Book Keeping (Min. 48K & 2 drives) £150.00
Please ask us for fuller details of the above. All
are disk based for the TRS-80 Model I or III.
Please state your DOS when ordering. Apple II
versions soon.
• Circle No. 244
VETS FOR PETS
Anita Electronic Services (London) Ltd.
are specialists in the repair and service of
Commodore Pets, Commodore and
Computhink Disk Drives and compatible
printers, including Anadex, NEC, Qume,
Ricoh and Empson.
We offer a fast on-site service or alter-
natively repairs can be carried out at our
workshops should you wish to bring in
your pet.
Pet Maintenance Contracts are avail-
able at very competitive prices. Trade
enquiries welcome.
For further information telephone or
write to: —
JOHN MEADE
Anita Electronic Services Ltd.
15 Clerkenwell Close
London E.C.1.
01-253 2444
• Circle No. 245
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
169
ZX-81
CASSETTE ONE
"I had your Invaders/React cassette ... I was
delighted with this first cassette"
— P. Rubython, London NW10
"Thanks for your Cassette One you sent me — some
excellent games at a very cheap price!"
— P. Rushton, Leeds
“I have been intending to write to you for some days to
say how much I enjoy the games on Cassette One'
which you supplied me with earlier this month. Please
let . . . into the secret of your first time load every time!"
— E. H., London SW4
CASSETTE ONE SIDE ONE IK
MACHINE CODE PROGRAMS
React. Invaders, Phantom aliens. Maze of death.
Planet lander, Bug splat, Bouncing letters
CASSETTE ONE SIDE ONE IK
BASIC PROGRAMS
I Ching, Mastermind, Basic hangman. Robots
CASSETTE ONE SIDE TWO
has large screen versions of Invaders and Maze of
Death, ready for when you get 16K. Previous
customers who did not get the largo screen versions
cancel free upgrade instructions by sending me an
CASSETTE ONE costs C3.80 from Michael Orwln,
26 Brownlow Road, Wlllesden, London NW10 9QL
CP/M
Interface Computer Services £350
varies
CP/M
Selven Systems
£600
500 suppliers 5,000
CP/M North Star
Benchmark CS Ltd
£250
trans
100 a/c 300 trans
Durango F-85
Kesho Systems
£500
Exidy Sorcerer
Basic Computing
£125
See also Micropute
Horizon
Claisse Allen Computing
£500
800 a/c 2,000 trans
Ohio Scientific
Stratheden Ltd
£500
varies
Tandy Models 1 & 2 Chess Consultancies Ltd
£250
300-500 a/c
Tandy TRS-80
FIBS
£750
part of integrated
Tandy TRS-80
Tridata Micros Ltd
£225
system
125 a/c 1,000 trans
Zilog MCZ range
Microbits Ltd
£500
400 suppliers
Z-80
Z80/8080
Liveport Ltd
Solitaire
£500
1,000 trans
200 by 26 a/c
Sales Ledger
Machine type
Supplier name
Price
Capacity
Apple II
Computech Systems
£295
500 a/c 1,600 trans
Apple II
Dataforce (U.K.) Ltd
£315
200 a/c 1,000 trans
Apple II
Logic Box Ltd
£490
300 a/c 1,300 trans
Apple II
Deltic Computing Ltd
£250
1,000 a/c
Apple II/ITT
Padmede Computer Services £300
900 a/c 4,500 trans/
Apple II/ITT
Guestel Ltd
£300
disc
200 a/c
Apple II/ITT
Apple
Systematics International Ltd
Style Systems Ltd
£250
650 a/c 2,500 trans
Commodore 3000/8
Anagram Systems
£299
250-2,000 a/c
• Circle No. 240
f|appkz
QUME
EPSON
ANADEX
DYSAN
All Business Applications
Full Personal Attention
Hugh S. O’Neill Computers
111 High Street, Selsey,
CHICHESTER, SUSSEX.
Tel. Selsey (024361) 5856
• Circle No. 241
£cippkz
in ftoontt Bristol
with full Software Support for
business and professional use,
including Invoicing, Ledgers,
Stock Control, Word Processing,
Hotel Systems. Petrol Station
Management, Data Base,
Dental Records, Mailing Lists
I and many other applications.
Dataforce (UK) Limited,
66 Alma Road, Clifton,.
Bristol BS6 2DJ.
Tel: (0272) 314496
[Write Now for our Software Catalogue
Circle No. 242
Commodore 3000/8
CSM Ltd
£550 and
500-10,000 trans
1,000-2,000 a/c
Commodore 3032
ACT (Petsoft) Ltd
£650
£120
6,000-10,000 trans
200 a/c 700 trans
Commodore 8000
Commodore BM (U.K.) Ltd
£300
600 a/c 4,500 trans
CP/M
Bytesoft
£400
varies
CP/M
PCL Software Ltd
£475
950 a/c
CP/M
Great Northern CS Ltd
£415
500 a/c
CP/M
Haywood Associates Ltd
£350
CP/M
Median-Tec Ltd
£500
500 a/c 5,000 trans
CP/M
Ludhouse Ltd
£500
2,000 a/c
CP/M
Graffcom Systems Ltd
£450
8,000 trans
540-7,000
CP/M
Computerstore Ltd
£400
500 a/c 3,500 trans
CP/M
Salmon Microcomputing
£350
1,000 a/c
CP/M
Selven Systems
£600
24,000 trans
500 a/c 5,000 trans
CP/M
Map Computer Systems Ltd
£300
400-96,000 a/c
CP/M
Daman Computer Services
£900
1,500 a/c 500 trans
CP/M
PR Daly & Co Ltd
£350
CP/M
Interface Computer
£350
varies
CP/M North Star
Services
Benchmark CS Ltd
£250
200 a/c 500 trans
Durango F-85
Kesho Systems
£500
Exidy Sorcerer
Basic Computing
£125
See also Micropute
Horizon
Claisse-Allen Computing
£500
800 a/c 2,000 trans
Tandy Models 1 & 2 Chess Consultancies Ltd
£250
300 a/c
Tandy TRS-80
Tridata Micros Ltd
£225
175 a/c 1,350 trans
Tecs
Jar Software Systems
£550
500 a/c
Z-80 Liveport Ltd
Stock Systems
Machine type Supplier name
Price
Capacity
Apple II
Logic Box Ltd
£490
1,200 items
Apple II
Vlasak Electronics Ltd
£150
7,000 items
Apple II
Dataforce (U.K.) Ltd
£200
850 items
Apple II
U-Microcomputers Ltd
£199
Apple II
Microsense Computers Ltd
£100
Apple II
Informex London Ltd
£198
Apple
Style Systems Ltd
£250
900-80,000 items
Apple II/ITT
Microdigital Ltd
£225
625 items
Apple II/ITT
Vlasak Electronics Ltd
£285
500 items
Apple II/ITT
Systematics International Ltd £500
200-2,500 items
Apple II/ITT
Guestel Ltd
£300
168
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
Buyers’ Guide
Sharp MZ-80
Tandy TRS-80
Tandy TRS-80
Tandy TRS-80
Tandy Model 2
Tandy TRS-80
Tandy TRS-80
Tecs
Z-80/8080
Z-80/8080
Zilog MCZ range
Tridata Micros Ltd
A J Harding (Molimerx)
Chess Consultancies
FIBS
P J Norris
Tridata Micros Ltd
3-line Computing
Jar Software Systems
Liveport Ltd
Solitaire
Microbits
£250 400 employees
£120
£400 400 employees
£429
£500 1,000 per disk
£218 400 employees
£140
£250 300 employees
£250 500 employees
£500 200 employees
£500 300 employees
Personnel and Administration
Machine type
Apple II
Apple II
Apple II/ITT
Apple II/ITT
Apple II/ITT
Commodore 3000
CP/M
CP/M North Star
CP/M Vector
Z-80/8080
Supplier name
Informex Logic
Informex Logic
Informex Logic
Informex Logic
Informex Logic
Intex Datalog Ltd
Median-Tec Ltd
Micromedia
Taylor Microsystems
Intereurope
Price
Application
£198
Personnel records
£298
Staff selection tests
£298
Employment agency
system
£198
Medical records
£198
Hospital administration
£100
Hospital administration
£1,500
Employment agency
system
£595
Personnel records
£390
Piece work
£500
Personnel records
Property Management
Capacity
Machine type
Supplier name
Price
Apple II/ITT
Cyderpress Ltd
£650
300 entries
Apple II/ITT
Informex London Ltd
£298
Apple II/ITT
Cyderpress Ltd
£650
500 properties
Apple II/ITT
Algobel Computers Ltd
£650
400 properties
Commodore 3032/8
Compsoft Ltd
£190
13,000
CP/M
Compsoft Ltd
£400
27,000
CP/M
Algobel Computers Ltd
£650
2,000 trans
CP/M
Salmon Microcomputing
£900
Z-80/8080 Graham Dorian Software
Purchase Ledger
£325
varies
Machine type
Supplier name
Price
Capacity
Apple II
Dataforce (U.K.) Ltd
£315
200 a/c 1,000 trans
Apple II
Logic Box Ltd
£490
400 a/c 1,000 trans
Apple II
Deltic Computing Ltd
£250
1,000 trans
Apple II
Apple II/ITT
Computech Systems
Systematics International Ltd
£295
500 a/c 1,600 trans
Apple II/ITT
Padmede Computer Services £300
900 a/c 4,500 trans/
disc
Apple
Style Systems Ltd
£250
650 a/c 1,750 trans
Apple II/ITT
Guestel Ltd
£300
200 a/c
Commodore 3000/8
CSM Ltd
£550
1,000-2,000 a/c
6,000-10,000 trans
Commodore 3000/8
Anagram Systems
£399
200-2,000 a/c
800-16,000 trans
Commodore 3032
ACT (Petsoft) Ltd
£120
200 a/c 700 trans
Commodore 3032
Compfer Ltd
£300
1,000 trans
7,000 entries
Commodore 8000
Commodore BM Ltd
£300
600 a/c 4,500 trans
CP/M
Bytesoft
£400
varies
CP/M
Business Solutions Ltd
£390
varies
CP/M
Median-Tec Ltd
£500
500 a/c 5,000 trans
CP/M
Ludhouse Ltd
£500
500 a/c 5,000 trans
CP/M
Great Northern CS Ltd
£315
500 a/c
CP/M
Structured Systems Ltd
£460
varies
CP/M
Selven Ltd
£600
1,000 a/c
2,000 trans
CP/M
Salmon Microcomputing
£350
1,000 a/c
24,000 trans
CP/M
Map Computer Systems Ltd
£300
400-96,000 a/c
CP/M
Microbits
£500
varies
CP/M
PR Daly & Co Ltd
£350
500 a/c 3,100 trans
CP/M
Computastore Ltd
£400
CP/M
Haywood Associates
£350
TRS-80 Compiler
Work- Station
Model I and III, and Video Genie
Speed up your Basic Program Development
EDIT — Full-screen BASIC editor with
floating cursor and auto repeat. 30
commands and functions let you find,
change, insert, delete, replicate, copy, or
move BASIC text at the character, string,
line, or block level. Improved program
visibility, fewer errors. £17.50
EXEC — Command-list processor. Speeds
up and simplifies repetitive procedures
such as power-up, file reorganisation.
£9.50
Speed up your Basic Program Execution
ACCEL2 — Compiler for Model I and III
BASIC (disk and non-disk). Execution
speed-ups of 20-30 times for integer
operations, 5-7 times for string handling,
less if I/O limited. Very easy to use.
Professionals note: Full instructions for
selling derived code on tape or disk. No
royalties! Ask for more details. £39.95
TSAVE — Writes compiled code toSYSTEM
tape. Makes core-image backups of any
machine-language programs. £4.95
y PO Box 39. Eastleigh. Hants. England. 505 5 WQ
• Circle No. 237
STOKE on TRENT
for
TUSCAN
and
TANGERINE
and
VIDEO GENIE + SOFTWARE
and
BOOKS
MICRO-PRINT Ltd..
59, Church Street, Stoke on Trent.
(0782) 48348. Barclaycard and Access
• Circle No. 238
THE POWER BANK
Pluq your micro computer video unit and Primer into
the POVVER BANK and forqet about a disabling bmak in
the electricity supply. This unit will continue to run
your system for on t<> one hour in the event of a mains
failure WITH NO INTERUPTION TO YOUR WORK'
Vital when running business systems. This unit will of
course suppress MAINS SPIKES and SURGES.
SIGNWAVE OUTPUT
Retail i>nc«? £320 r- VAT
Weighl 1 3Kqrrrs Sire 43cms ■ 20cms • 9cms
POWER TESTING LTD
1 St Mary's Lane, Upmlnster
Tel: Upmlnster 26938
Circle No. 239
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
167
‘SIMPLY
WRITE’
Super word
processor at
a silly price!
All you'd expect for ten times the price, PLUS re-define
keyboard, graphics printing, tape or disk files, old or
new ROMs. PET or ASCII printers. AND 40 or 80
column (same tape or disk). We didn't believe it either!
£37 tape (can save to disk); £40 disk (sample files etc).
Manual £1 refundable. Specify drive.
and now. . .
‘SIMPLY FILE’: information
manager (DBMS) to match!
Robust, versatile, self-calculating, economic back-
up. £65 disk only, with manual. Manual £1 refund-
able. Specify drive.
LIGHT PEN + SOFTWARE — plug in & go. £22
PROGRAMMER’S TOOLKIT — makes programming
less like work! 3.0: £28. 4.0 (incl 80): £30.
ADVENTURE 1 & 2: authentic Scott Adams 24K
classic games. Each £7 (both. £13)
NEW! ASTEROIDS-81 — fast action. £6
Add VAT to all prices please, but post/insurance
included. Unconditional Instant Refund Guarantee on
hardware, also software if not up to description. Write
for more details, more items, newsletter.
SIMPLE SOFTWARE LTD.,
15 Havelock Road,
Brighton. Sussex BN1 6GL
(0273) 504879
• Circle No. 234
VISITERM
Let your APPLE
talk to the WORLD.
Yes. Your 48K Apple can communicate
with almost any mainframe computer
whether your own or a time-sharing ser-
vice. Even another APPLE. Full kit includ-
ing software, communication card and
cables cost’s just £195 (excluding acou-
stic coupler, VAT and delivery).
For further details of this new dimension
to Apple micros and of our other 500
APPLE products send to
ANDERLEE COMPUTER SERVICES,
17 Adelphi Crescent,
Hayes Park,
Hayes, Middx.
or telephone 01-841 1507
(24 hour answer ser vice)
• Circle No. 235
Computer
Junk Shop
We Buy. Sell. Break
Computers and Peripherals
Surplus Stock
: '
New and Used Power
| Supplies To Most Specifications
Always Available
10, Waterloo Road,
Widnes,' Halton, Cheshire. WA8 0PY
Telephone 051 420 4590
• Circle No. 236
Apple II/ITT
The Software House
£57
Apple II/ITT
Personal Computers Ltd
£50
Commodore 3000/8
Amplicon MS Ltd
£145
Commodore 3032
MMS Computer Systems
£250
Commodore 3032
Stage One Computers
£100
Commodore 3032/8
Compsoft Ltd
£190
CP/M
Compsoft Ltd
£400
CP/M
Structured Systems Group
£50
CP/M
Graffcom Systems Ltd
£250
CP/M
Median-Tec Ltd
£500
CP/M
Microbits
£230
CP/M
Interface Computer Services £200
CP/M Horizon
Microtek Computer Services £250
CP/M North Star
Intelligent Artifacts
£250
CP/M North Star
Micromedia Systems
£195
CP/M Vector
Taylor Microsystems
£375
North Star
Intelligent Artifacts
£250
Tandy TRS-80
A J Harding (Molimerx)
£55
Tandy TRS-80
Comput-A-Crop
£78
Z-80/8080
Intereurope SD Ltd
£200
Z-80/8080
Micro Focus
£90
Order Entry/Invoicing
Machine type
Supplier name
Price
Apple II
Informex
£198
Commodore 3032
MMS Computers
£250
CP/M
PR Daly & Co
£200
CP/M
Graffcom Systems
£350
CP/M
Interface Ltd
£250
CP/M
Median-Tec
Tandy TRS-80
Tridata Micros
£75
Z-80/MCZ
Software Architects
£600
Payroll
Machine type
Supplier name
Price
Apple II
Dataforce (U.K.) Ltd
£375
Apple II/ITT
TW Computers Ltd
£145
Apple II/ITT
Informex London Ltd
£298
Apple II/ITT
Algobel Computers
£295
Apple II/ITT
Vlasak Electronics Ltd
£375
Apple II/ITT
Computech Systems
£379
Apple
Style Systems Ltd
£350
Apple II/ITT
Tabs Ltd
£99
Commodore 3000/8
Commodore BM (U.K.) Ltd
£150
Commodore 3000/8
Landsler Software
£150
Commodore 3032
Analog Electronics
£90
Commodore 3032
L & J Computers
£220
Commodore 3032
Intex Datalog Ltd
£195
Commodore 3032
Computastore Ltd
£75
Commodore 3032
ACT (Petsoft) Ltd
£195
CP/M
Benchmark CS Ltd
£350
CP/M Haywood Associates Ltd £350
CP/M Median-Tec £500
CP /M Salmon-Microcomputing £300
CP/M Map Computer Systems £350
CP/M Daman Computer Services £900
CP/M Selven Ltd £500
CP/M PR Daly & Co Ltd £350
CP/M Graffcom Systems Ltd £500
CP/M Horizon Software Ltd £500
CP/M PCL Software Ltd £495
CP/M Ludhouse Ltd £450
CP/M Comput-A-Crop £495
CP/M Microbits £500
CP/M Horizon Microtek Computer Services Lease
CP/M North Star Micromedia Systems £495
CP/M North Star Intelligent Artefacts £52
CP/M Vector Taylor Micro Systems £490
Durango F-85 Kesho Systems £500
Horizon Claisse-Allen Computing £500
Ohio Scientific Stratheden Ltd £750
750 names and
addresses
400 entries
1,500-4,000 records
3.000 records
325 records
13.000
27.000
varies
800-5,000 records
varies
varies
varies
600-3,750 records
varies
30,000 entries
varies
Notes
Invoicing system
Order control
Invoicing
Order entry/invoicing
Invoicing
Invoicing
Invoicing
Order entry/invoicing
Capacity
500 employees
200 employees
300 employees
450 employees
50 weekly 100 monthly
200-600 employees
200-500 employees
200 employees
483 employees
600 employees
300 employees,
50 departments
1,000 employees
500 employees
300-96,000 employees
1,000 employees/
Mbyte
400 employees
500 employees
1,200 employees
300 employees
175 employees
varies
varies
350 employees
100 employees
250 employees
varies
166
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
Buyers’ Guide
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M North Star
Horizon
North Star DOS
Ohio Scientific
Tandy Model 2
Tandy TRS-80
Z-80
Z80/8080
Zilog MCZ range
Ludhouse Ltd
Computastore Ltd
Great Northern CS £345
Selven Ltd £400
Interface Computer Services £350
Microbits Ltd
Map Computer Systems
Benchmark CS Ltd
Claisse-Allen Computing
Intelligent Artefacts Ltd
Stratheden Ltd
Chess Consultancies Ltd
Tridata Micros Ltd
Liveport Ltd
Solitaire
Microbits
£500 200 a/c 5,000 trans
£500 999 a/c 99 centres
nine computers
250 a/c
1,000 a/c 3,000 trans
varies
£500 varies
£300 250 a/c 3,500 + trans
£250 150 a/c 500 trans
£500 999 a/c 99 entries,
nine computers
£295 1,500 a/c 5,000 trans
£500 varies
£400 1,000 a/c
£225 500 a/c 1,800 trans
Hotel and Travel Packages
Machine type Supplier name
Apple II Dataforce
Apple II Informex Logic
Apple II Informex Logic
Apple H/ITT Guestel Ltd
Apple II Diskwise Ltd
Commodore 3000 Landsler Software
Incomplete Records
Machine type
Apple II/ITT
Commodore 3000/8
Commodore 3032
Commodore 3032
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
Durango F-85
Exidy Sorcerer
Tandy Model 1
Tandy Model 1
Supplier name
Padmede Computer Services £450
CSM Ltd
Stage One Computers
Micro Computation
Benchmark Ltd
Bytesoft
Criterion Business Systems
Ludhouse Ltd
Salmon Microcomputing
Map Computer Systems
Kesho Systems
Basic Computing
A ] Harding (Molimerx)
Quickmet
Job Costing/Billing
Machine type Supplier name
Apple II
Apple II
Apple II/ITT
Apple II/ITT
Commodore 3032
Commodore 3032
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M
CP/M Cromemco
CP/M North Star
Mailing Systems
Machine type Supplier name
Apple II
Apple II
Apple II
Apple II
Apple II
Informex London
Deltic Computing Ltd
Padmede Computer Services £300
TABS Ltd £99
CSM Ltd £600
Stage One Computers £100
Business Solutions Ltd £190
Map Computer Systems Ltd £550
Graffcom Systems Ltd £400
Ludhouse Ltd £ 1 .000
Microtek Computer Services £1,000
Great Northern CS Ltd £455
Salmon Microcomputing £300
Sheffield Micro Information
Ltd £1.500
Intelligent Artefacts £275
£500
Up to 26 by 400 a/c
£500
100 a/c 5,000 trans
Price
Notes
£525
Hotel management
£298
Travel agents’ system
£298
Hotel administration
£500
system
Hotel billing
£695
Hotel reservation and
£350
guest billing
Hotel guest billing
Price
Capacity
3 £450
900 a/c 2,000 trans/disc
£1,200 +
250 a/c 3,000-4,000
£750
trans
500 centres 2,300 a/c
£555
120 a/c 5,000 trans
£975
£250
3,000 trans
£375
2,500 entries
£1,000
variable
£950
5,000 entries
£550
£1,000
£350
See also Micropute
£150
1,200
£785
300 a/c 2,000 trans
Price
Capacity
£498
1,000 emp-pro-exp
£250
codes
Keen Computers Ltd
SBD Consultants Ltd
Microsense Computers Ltd
Informex London Ltd
Atlanta
Price
£300
£55
£70
£198
£55
Apple II/ITT
Systematics International Ltd £300
999 clients 99 rates
100 jobs 3,000 trans
1,000 jobs 100 people
300 appointments
varies
400-96,000 jobs
varies
1,000 jobs 35 codes
300 clients
225 codes
20 operations
Capacity
500 addresses
1,000 names and
addresses
500 addresses
TRS 80 MODEL 1
E 8.00
E 9.00
E20.00
E20.00
BARGAIN Super Mods:
Improved Power Supply designed to run
cooler with inbuilt fuse.
50% Speed Upgrade Kit (Simple to fit) —
Switch selectable — increases clock speed
from standard 1.77MHZ to 2.66MHZ
TRS 80 to Centronics/Anadex Interfaces
(from Keyboard)
TRS 80 to RS232C Serial Interfaces (from
Disk Cables^ 1/2/3/4 way respectively £3/5/7/9.00
TRS 80 to Centronics Printer Cable (6 ft
approx) (from Expansion Interface) Eb.uu
ABOVE PRICES INCLUDE
VAT AND POSTAGE/PACKING
Telephone orders accepted - VISA, ACCESS
JOHNSON MICROCOMPUTERS,
75/79 PARK STREET, CAMBERLEY, SURREY
Telephone: Camberley (0276) 20446
• Circle No. 230
TEST ★ SERVICE ★ REPAIR
★ MICROCOMPUTERS
★ PERIPHERALS
★ FLOPPY DISC DRIVES
★ MEMORY BOARDS
★ INTERFACE BOARDS
★ ASSEMBLY/TEST OF COMPUTER KITS
★ MICRO UPGRADES: MEMORY, DISCS,
PRINTERS, MONITORS.
Fast, professional service, carried out by
experienced computer engineers. Very compe-
titive prices.
A. N. ELECTRONIC & COMPUTER
SERVICES LTD
211 Park Barn Drive, Guildford, Surrey
Tel: Guildford 504897
Circle No. 231
CAN YOU WRITE?
We are a major British publisher,
and we are looking for authors to
help us with our computing
books. We’re specially interested
in material for ATARI, VIC, ZX81 ,
BBC/ACORN and APPLE.
If you think you can help, write to
us at
BOX 322
• Circle No. 232
SUSSEX
SUPERBRAIN FROM £1550*
NEW TELEVIDEO SYSTEMS
multi-user, multi-tasking and
communications
RANGE OF CP/M SOFTWARE
PRINTERS FROM EPSOM TO
SANDERS
WE ARE ALSO A WORD PROCESSING
BUREAU
* Subject to $ surcharge
The Electronic Office
Phoenix Buildings
Regency Road • 32 West Street
Brighton • Tel: Brighton (0273) 722248/9
• Circle No. 233
©
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
165
OSI/UK User Group
Support for
UK101
Superboard
and all OSI-based systems
professionally produced
A5-format bi-montnly Newsletter
development and documentation
and much more!
£ 10.00
for six-issue membership/subscriplion
contact: George Chkiantz
12 Bennerley Road, London SW11
• Circle No. 226
ALL MICRO DEALERS
£££ NEW SALES OPPORTUNITY £££
INSURANCE BROKER SYSTEM
— Runs on any micro under CP/M & MP/M
— Fully operational for past 12 months
— Numerous systems already installed
— Suitable for all High Street brokers
FOR SALE COMPLETE WITH:—
— Design & Specification
— COBOL Source
— Full Documentation
— Marketing rights
TASK
FORCE TONY MARTIN 0702 615551
Tandy TRS-80
Chess Consultancies
Tandy TRS-80
P J Norris
Tecs
Jar Software
Estate Agents’ Systems
Machine type
Supplier name
Apple II
Atlanta
Apple II
Microsense
Apple II/ITT
Cyderpress
Apple II/ITT
Systematic
Commodore 3032
Stage One Computers
Compucorp
Verwood systems
Compucorp
Verwood systems
CP/M
Selven Ltd
Financial Systems
Machine type
Supplier name
Apple II
Microdigital
Apple II
Microdigital
Apple II
Microsense
Apple II
PK Microsystems
Apple II
Dataforce
Apple II
Informex
Apple II/ITT
Microsense
Apple II/ITT
Systematics
Apple n/ITT
Systematics
Apple II/ITT
Microsense
Commodore 3000
Stage One Computers
Commodore 3000/8
ACT Microsoft
Commodore 3032
Stage One Computers
Commodore 3032
CPS
• Circle No. 227
SALE
Paper Tape Punches and Readers,
Cassette Drives, Printers, Voltage
Stabilisers, VDUs, PDP8M, PDP8E,
Memory and Modules.
Send S.A.E. for list or call and see.
GILINSKY
15 Thornhill Park,
Sunderland SR2 7LA
0783 44770
• Circle No. 228
BOOK-KEEPING for
ACCOUNTANTS & TRADERS
Purchases Day Book, Sales & VAT to run
on a 32K PET.
Neat, Clear and Comprehensive Print-
outs. Error-proof, Fast & Easy to operate.
Computes all NINE Retailer Special VAT
Schemes.
Box 11 & 12 amounts and End of Year
adjustments, etc.
100 Expense analysis + Goods at Zero
and Std Rates.
100 Supplier analysis.
Approved by Customs and Excise.
Only £97.75 inc VAT C.W.O.
Or for further details contact
E. Stanton MBIM. 86 Bracken Drive, CHIGWELi,
Esmx M7 5AD.
Tel: 01-500 4318 or 01-505 7830
• Circle No. 229
Commodore 3032
L & J Computers
Commodore 3032
ACT (Petsoft)
Commodore 3032
Stage One Computers
Commodore 3032
Logma Systems
CP/M
Bytesoft
CP/M
Micromedia
CP/M
Graffcom System
CP/M
MAP Computers
CP/M
Microtek
CP/M
Microtek
CP/M
Median-Tec
CP/M
Graffcom Systems
CP/M Vector
Taylor Microsystems
Durango F-85
Kesho Systems
Superbrain
Alan Pearman Ltd
Tandy TRS-80
Chess Consultancies
Tandy TRS-80
A J Harding
Z-80/8080
Intereurope
Z-80/8080
Graham Dorian
General Ledger
Machine type
Supplier name
Apple II
Computech Systems
Apple II
Dataforce (U.K.) Ltd
Apple
Style Systems Ltd
Apple II/ITT
Systematics International Ltd
Apple II/ITT
Guestel Ltd
Commodore 3032
Bristol Software Factory
Commodore 3032
Analog Electronics
Commodore 8000
Commodore BM (U.K.) Ltd
CP/M
Business Solutions Ltd
CP/M
Bytesoft
CP/M
PR Daly & Co Ltd
CP/M
Haywood Associates Ltd
CP/M
Median-Tec Ltd
— '
£450
Production planning
£1,500
Estimating steel frame
buildings
£600
Production analysis
Price
£750
£500
£650
£850
£250
Notes
£700
Estate sales
£1,200
Estate management
Estate agents’ sales
and selection
Price
Notes
£200
Sales analysis
£130
Credit control
£194
Cashier retail/
wholesale
Solicitors' accounts
£80
Cashflow projection
£98
VAT system
£125
VisiCalc
£295
Financial planning
£1,000
Financial controller
£75
Modelling
desktop plan
£250
Financial acounts
package
£125
Financial modelling
£100
Quote processing
£575
Invoice-costing/
jewellers
£90
Cash book
£150
Financial planning
£100
Bank a/c reconcile
£600
Sales/analysis
£95
Financial modelling
£1,000
Invoice disc factoring
£400
Hire-purchase system
£550
Financing system
£500
Accounting
£750
Budget control
£500
Financial analysis
£450
Purchasing system
£390
Cashflow forecasting
£1,000
Time recording/
ledger
£315
Financial planning
£800
Sales statistics
£125
Financial balancing
£500
Financial modelling
£325
Sales analysis retail
Price
Capacity
£295
500 a/c 1,700 trans
£225
200 a/c 1,000 trans
£250
1,000 a/c, 2,000
postings
£300
200 a/c
£300
1,000 a/c 6,000 trans
£450
£300
600 a/c 3,000 trans
£390
varies
£690
varies
£500
£500
£500
500 a/c 5,000 trans
164
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
Buyers’ Guide:
CP/M
Interface Computer Services £350
CP/M
Minicomputer CS Ltd
£1,250
varies
CP/M
Salmon Microcomputing
£750
1,600 items 1,000 trans
CP/M
Selven Ltd
£1,500
3K a/c 7K trans
CP/M
Map Computer Systems
£1,000
varies
CP/M North Star
Instar Business Systems
£999
600-2,900
CP/M North Star
Criterion Business Systems
North Star DOS
Inteligent Artefacts
£510
1,500 a/c 5K trans
Ohio Scientific
Microcomputer BM
£656
Ohio Scientific
Stratheden Ltd
Tandy Model 2
Chess Consultancies
£1,200
Tandy Model 2
Chess Consultancies
£995
5,000 items 1,500 a/c
Tandy TRS-80
Microcomputer Applications
£90
Tecs
Jar Software Systems
£650
500 a/c 300 nom. a/c
Database Managers
Machine type
Supplier name
Price
Capacity
Apple II
ACT Microsoft Ltd
£75
Apple II
Courtman Micro Systems
£106
100K characters
Apple II/ITT
Systematics International Ltd
£72
Apple II/ITT
Diskdean Ltd
£120
varies
Apple II/ITT
Systematics International Ltd £125
1,000 references
Apple H/ITT
Informex London Ltd
£198
500-1,200 records
Apple H/ITT
The Software House
£140
900 records
Commodore 3000/8
Stage One Computers
£45-£250
650-2,400 records
Commodore 3000/8
Commodore BM (U.K.) Ltd
£150-£300 650-1,400-64,000
records
records
Commodore 3032
CPS (Data Systems) Ltd
£200
varies
Commodore 3032/8
Compsoft Ltd
£190
600-5,000 records
CP/M
Compsoft Ltd
£400
30,000 records
CP/M
Great Northern CS Ltd
£ 1 10-£2 10 and varies
CP/M
Microtek Computer Services
£250-£500
CP/M
Cleno Computing Services
£90-£325
varies
CP/M
Interface Ltd
£200
varies
CP/M
Median-Tec Ltd
£500
CP/M
Microbits
£145
varies
CP/M
Southdata Ltd
£650
up to 8Mbytes
CP/M SWTPC
Verwood Systems
Metrotech System
Metrotech
£200-£ 1,000
Ohio Challenger
U-Microcomputer§ Ltd
£17514
Ohio Scientific
Microcomputer BM
£175 +
Superbrain
Alan Pearman Ltd
£295
varies
SWTPC
SWTPC
£100
Tandy TRS-80
Cleartone ADP
£75
varies
Tandy TRS-80
ACT Microsoft Ltd
£75
Z-80/8080
Structured Systems Group
£135
varies
Z-80/Cromemco
Xitan Systems Ltd
£850
4,000 records/disc
Engineering
Design Systems
Machine type
Supplier name
Price
Notes
Apple II
Haden Young Ltd
From £50
i Provide a comprehen
sive series of soft-
ware for building/
engineering
Apple II
James C Steadman
£200
Erect concrete
columns
Apple II
James C Steadman
£250
Multibay frames
Apple II/ITT
Aerco-Gemsoft
£175
Pipeline engineering
Commodore 3032
Micro Computation
£300
Building-conversion
specification
Commodore 3032
The Alphabet Co
£75
Time study and
analysis
Commodore 3032
Comae Systems
£400
Asset register
Commodore 3032/8
Comae Systems
£400
Maintenance plan
Commodore 3032/8
Comae Systems
£400
Work orders
Commodore 3032/8
Comae Systems
£400
Plant history
Commodore 3032/8
Comae Systems
£400
Manpower analysis
CP/M
Median-Tec
£500
Plastic portal frames
CP/M
Median-Tec
£1,500
Finite element analysis
CP/M
Median-Tec
£500
Slope-stability analysis
CP/M
Median-Tec
£500
Retaining wall design
CP/M
Median-Tec
£1,500
Concrete design
Equinox
Equinox
£500
Civil/structural
engineering design
FORTH
Ttee small computer language of the eighties!
xForth
Our superb Z80/8080 implementation of the FORTH-
79 standard, with virtual memory, screen editor, and
many other facilities. Fully intearated with CM/M2.2.
Also available for North Star DOS.
Special offer £30
We have many other Forth products at low prices,
including a resident assembler, and Cassady's Meta
system that lets you generate ROMable code and
cross-compile for your own or other machines or even
other operating systems.
Amethyst
Write and find out why this is the best word processing
system available! Price, including the BDS C-compiler
so you can personalise the system if you like, is £250
(inc. VAT). Without the BDS C-compiler £200 (inc.
VAT).
Add £3 p&p to all orders. Add £5 for disk formats
other than North Star.
Send S.A.E. for more details on these
and other products.
A.I.M. Research,
20 Montague Road, Cambridge CB4 1 BX.
• Circle No. 222
GRAPHICS for the
ZX80 and ZX81
Ik GRAPHICS for the ZX81 four programs -
Kaleidoscope, Large Print, Medium Print. Draw A
Picture. 10 page illustrated manual gives listings
(without errors!) instructions for use. ideas for
variations to programs, detailed technical notes
including explanation of ZX81 character generator (not
in Sinclair manual) etc.
C12 cassette & instructions (no manual) £2.50
Illustrated Ik Graphics Manual £2.50
Graphics Package (cassette and Manual) £4.00
16k Graphics for the ZX80 enables you to draw on
screen almost as your would draw with a pencil.
Provides over 30 functions enabling you to PLOT.
UNPLOT. DRAW. UNDRAW etc. similar to much more
expensive computers. Drawings may be SAVEd on
tape. C12 cassette and instruction leaflet £4.00
*• MoreZX81 programs coming soon **
* * Other ZX80 software now HALF PRICE * *
Send s.a.e. for details (Mail Order Only)
BRIDGE SOFTWARE (P)
36 Femwood, Marple Bridge,
STOCKPORT, Ches SK6 5BE
• Circle No. 223
TEACHING CP/M?
LEARNING CP/M?
A frustrating business — even for the professional let
alone the poor user!
NOW for the FIRST time a truly self-teaching course
designed for the first time user.
The CP/M TUTOR is available on floppy disk for the
SUPERBRAIN at only £256 (incl VAT and Manual).
SYNTAX SOFTWARE LIMITED
16 Leyland Avenue, Enfield, Middlesex.
Phone: 01-804 5817.
• Circle No. 224
5 DAY MICROCOMPUTER
PROGRAMMING COURSES
START EVERY MONDAY
INCLUSIVE COST £170
Part-time courses
seven days a week
MICROTEACH
160 Edmund Street,
Birmingham
Tel: 021-236 4322
• Circle No. 225
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
163
Call COMPUTALINE on
(01) 840 1177/3444
For Printers eg Oki matrix from £245
Daisywheel from £730
For Computers eg Superbrain* from
£1910
Apple* £Call
For Value, whether you need hardware,
software or full systems, call
COMPUTALINE
St James’ House, 105-113 The Broadway,
Ealing, London W13 9BL
• Circle No. 218
PARTRIDGE & MAY LTD
COMPUTER SERVICES
PRINTER STATIONERY
Standard 9 1 2 " x 1 1” with sprocket holes. Box of 2.000
sheets, plain or striped. Cl 2.65 incl VAT (local) cwo.
Self-adhesive labels 4” x 1V 2 " x 1,000, £7.50 incl VAT
(local) cwo. Postage UK mainland Cl. 50.
Stockists of Verbatim/Shugart diskettes, printer rib-
bons and wide selection of printers and Acorn Atom —
Further details on request.
Hardware & Software Consultants.
0268-781017.
7, MANNS WAY, RAYLEIGH, ESSEX SS6 9QB.
• Circle No. 219
TRS80 HARDWARE (MODEL 1)
A/D CONVERTER.
4 Analogue inputs, 2 Flag inputs. Analogue output
plugs into keyboard. Software included.
Board only: £48.00. Complete in case: £60.00. p&p
JOYSTICK CONTROLLED.
Uses Atari Joystick, plugs into keyboard. Software
included.
£24.00. P&P £1.00.
I/O PORT.
6 solid state and 2 Relay contact outputs. 8 T.T.L.
Inputs. LED indication of outputs.
£72.00. P&P £2.00.
LIGHT PEN.
Plugs into Cassette sockel. BUILT IN AMPLIFIER.
Software included.
£22.00. P&P £1.00.
All prices include VAT.
T. GARLAND & SON LTD.
14A Kenworthy Lane,
Northenden, Manchester M22 4EJ
Phone: 061 998 4207.
• Circle No. 220
SPORTING FORECASTS
Professor Frank George’s well-known Football
Pools Forecasting program is now available on
the:
SINCLAIR ZX81 16K
as well as Apple, Pet and Sharp. Versions soon
for TRS-80. Video Genie, TI 99/4. BBC-micro.
Write to:
Professor F. H. George
Bureau of Information Science
Commerce House, High Street
Chulfont St. Giles, Bucks.
Horse race Forecast Fragrant soon.
• Circle No. 221
SOFTWARE
Software packages are listed by application, in alphabetical
order, with the systems on which each package will run also
listed alphabetically. The guide is not exclusively for business
applications: if your company is the source or dealer for a
package with a more unusual application, send us the details
and we will create a new category.
The usual criteria have been applied. The minimum con-
figuration is 32K of RAM, a disc and a printer; the price of the
package must lie between £50 and £1,000; the companies
listed are the source of the software or the main dealers in
the U.K., and the capacity quoted is per disc or drive.
Machine type by application
Combined Ledger/Stock/Invoicing
Machine type
Supplier name
Price
Capacity
Apple II
Vlasak Electronics Ltd
£855
1,500 a/c 5,000 trans
Apple II
Dataforce (U.K.) Ltd
£855
Apple II
Microsense Computers Ltd
£340
Apple II/ITT
Informex London Ltd
£298
500 a/c
Apple II
Star Systems Ltd
£750
2,000 a/c 6,000 trans
Commodore 3000/8
Commodore BM (U.K.) Ltd
£1,100
200-600 a/c
2,000-6,000 trans
Commodore 3032
Compfer Ltd
£400
varies
Commodore 3032
Analog Electronics
£550
Commodore 3032
Logma Systems Design
£600
1-6 shops
Commodore 3032
Grama (Winter) Ltd
£475
varies
Commodore 3032
Bristol Software Factory
£300
1,000 a/c 6,000 trans
Commodore 3032
Compfer Ltd
£600
500 a/c 1,000 items
Commodore 3032
HB Computers
£695
500 a/c 2,500 trans
CP/M
Graffcom Systems Ltd
£400
varies
CP/M
Benchmark CS Ltd
£950
varies
CP/M
Computastore Ltd
£1,000
162
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
Networking:
gram code, lines 605 to 750. Data to be
transferred to the mainframe is held in the
memory array L$. Once the mainframe
file has been created, or its existence con-
firmed, data is transferred to it from L$
one element at a time. Each element of
L$ corresponds to a record to be stored in
the remote file.
Records are transmitted over the com-
munication link only when this is
requested by the host computer. It does
this by issuing an appropriate prompt
character, ASCII 62, as is implied by the
code contained in lines 790 and 830 of the
listing. Once all the non-null elements of
L$ have been transferred to the distant
machine the local program transmits an
end-of-file message which causes the file
to be closed.
Inherent in the implementation of the
algorithm is the assumption that the
transfer loop will be terminated by a null
element within L$. If this condition is not
met, the program is likely to abort with an
index error once the upper bound of L$ is
exceeded. If this happens the terminal
user has to close the remote file manually.
This limitation could easily be overcome
by including some extra statements at line
806:
806 IF K=N + 1 THEN GOTO 820
where N represents the upper bound of
Figure 3. Algorithm formulation for file
transfer from micro to mainframe.
1 . Get file name from user.
2. Does the file exist?
YES > | NO
> Create it and go to
step 6.
3 ~Ts the file to be over-written?
■ Empty it and go to
step 6.
4Tls the file to be extended?
NO YES
/ 1 ► Go to step 6.
5. Assume a new file is required and go to
step 1.
6. 1 4-1
7. Send Ith record to mainframe.
8. Wait for answer-back prompt from main-
frame.
9. 14-1 + 1
10. All records sent?
►Go to step 7.
1 lT“ Close mainframe file.
12. Exit.
L$. The calling routine then has to set the
value of N prior to invoking the file-
transfer subroutine.
Because the data link operates in full
duplex mode, data received by the main-
frame would normally be echoed back to
the terminal. To prevent this happening
during file transfer, the data-echoing pro-
cess is disabled by statements 760 to 775.
The argument of the print statement in
line 760 is a special message that instructs
the remote mainframe not to echo back
the data characters it receives. As soon as
file transmission is complete the echo-
back feature must be reinstated to enable
the normal terminal mode of operation of
the microcomputer. Lines 855 to 865 of
the listing are responsible for this.
Line 780 allows for a file in the main-
frame to be extended. As a result of the
value of Z$ being previously set to
“(LAST+ 1)”. This ensures that the host
operating system always appends the con-
tents of the L$ array to the end of the
remote file, commencing at the
(LAST+ l)th record.
It now becomes an easy matter to over-
come any limitations imposed by the size
of L$, and transfer secondary storage files
of any size. Either of these goals may be
achieved by simply applying the transfer
subroutine repetitively, via a secondary
entry point such as Gosub 755 if need be,
or by adding modifications to enable the
code between lines 780 and 840 to be re-
executed within a loop that could be ter-
minated by an out-of-data condition aris-
ing on the local microcomputer.
An illustration of this approach is con-
tained in the skeleton algorithm for pri-
mary memory space transfer — see figure
4. It is based upon multiple invocations of
the file-transfer routine contained in
figure 3 and listing 3.
In step 5, the value of R specifies the
size of the records that are to be transmit-
ted; it will depend upon the record struc-
ture used and the way in which the infor-
mation the records contain is organised.
Invocation of the file-transfer routine at
the primary entry point is necessary to
perform the filc-creation/checking proce-
dures and the dispatch of the first memory
block. Subsequent invocations of the rou-
tine reference its secondary entry point
thereby avoiding the initial file-creation
steps. An analogous algorithm could be
formulated for the transfer of files from
the secondary storage space of the micro-
computer.
P G Barker, Using a Microcomputer as an
Interactive Terminal, Interactive Systems
Research Group Working Paper, April
1981.
P G Barker, Algorithms for Intelligent Terminal
Operation, Interactive Systems Research
Group Working Paper, July 1981.
C S Donahue and J K Enger, Pet/CBM Perso-
nal Computer Guide, Osborne/McGraw-
Hill, 1980, ISBN 0 931988 30 6.
P G Barker, Program Exchange via the Public
Switched Network, Interactive Systems
Research Group Working Paper, July
1981. Q
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• Circle No. 217
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
161
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Circle No. 212
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Circle No. 213
TRS-80 LEVEL 2 SOFTWARE
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Circle No. 214
(continued from previous page)
contain mechanisms which can accom-
modate any major differences in trans-
mission protocol resulting from data-flow
reversal.
As before, when file transfer takes
place, two situations must be taken into
account:
• transfer of a section of the memory space of
the microsystem to the mainframe.
• transmission of one of the micro’s local
secondary storage files to the mainframe.
Listing 3. The implementation of figure 3.
An outline algorithm for file transfer to a
remote machine is shown in figure 3. The
program that implements the algorithm is
assigned the task of creating a file in the
file store of the host computer, if one does
not already exist, represented by steps 1
to 5. Successful file creation is followed by
a loop that transmits the file of data on a
record-by-record basis, steps 6 to 12.
File-creation and validation activity
accounts for the larger part of the pro-
600 REM FILE TRANSFER TO MAINFRAME
605 N=4
610 DIM R$( 10)
615 INPUT "< cursor home ..down * 4> FILE NAME"; Xf
629 FOR 1=1 TO 10 : R$<I)="" : NEXT I
625 Vf = " f CREATE " +Xf
630 PR I NT# 1 , Vf ' K= 1
635 GET #2 , If •: IF ST=2 OR 1$="" THEN 635
640 REM PRINT 1$;
645 IF If= AND K=N THEN 660
650 IF ASC< I $>013 THEN Rf<K)=Rf <10+1$ : GOTO 635
655 K=K+ 1 : GOTO 635
660 IF MIBf <Rf<N-l),2,5)="#FIL" THEN 750
665 PRINT "FILE"+Xf+" ALREADY EXISTS"
670 PRINT " < cursor down) DO YOU WANT TO"
675 PRINT" 1. OVERWRITE ITS CONTENTS?"
680 PRINT" 2. CREATE A NEW FILE?"
685 PRINT" 3. EXTEND THE FILE"
by@ PRINT" < cursor down * 2) ENTER 1,2 OR 3"
695 GET 1$ : IF 1$="" THEN 695
700 IF If="l" 0R If="2" OR I$="3" THEN 710
705 GOTO 695
71@ IF If="l" THEN 725
715 IF If="3" THEN 755
720 N=3 •• GOTO 615
725 PR I NT# 1, "fEMPTV"+Xf+" OK" : K=0
730 GET#2,If : IF ST=2 OR 1$="" THEN 730
7b'5 PRINT If; : IF 1$="#" AND K=2 THEN 755
740 IF ASC< If >013 THEN Rf <K)=Rf <K)+If : GOTO 730
745 K=K+1 •• GOTO 730
750 PRINT "FILE" +Xf + " HAS BEEN CREATED"
755 REM NOW TRANSFER THE Lf ARRAY TO MAINFRAME
760 PR I NT# 1, "XECH0=0FF" : Z$=" CLAST+1 ) "
765 GET#2, 1$ ; IF S'T=2 OR 1$="" THEN 765
770 PRINT If.: : IF If="#" THEN 780
775 GOTO 765
780 PR I NT# 1, " f COP V #S0URCE# TO "+X$+Zf : K=1
785 GET#2, If : IF ST=2 OR If="" THEN 785
790 PRINT If; : IF If=">" THEN 800
795 GOTO 785
800 PRINT#l,Lf<IO
305 PRINT "RECORD", K =K=K+1
810 IF Lf <K)=" " THEN 820
315 GOTO 785
820 Yf="fENDFILE"
825 GET#2, If : IF ST=2 OR If="" THEN 825
830 PRINT If; : IF If=">" THEN 840
835 GOTO 825
840 PR I NT# 1, Vf
845 GET#2, If : IF ST=2 OR If="" THEN 845
850 PRINT If; : IF IfO"#" THEN 345
355 PR I NT# 1 , " XECH0=0N "
860 GET#2, If • IF ST=2 OR If="" THEN 860
865 PRINT If ; •• IF IfO"#" THEN 860
870 PRINT "TRANSFER COMPLETE" : RETURN
160
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
! Networking
must be stored in an appropriate position
within the memory space.
The various steps that are involved are
depicted in the algorithm shown in figure
1 and its implementation is presented in
listing 1. Certain basic assumptions have
been made:
• It has been assumed that the file to be
copied exists and that the terminal user has
access to it.
• Because of memory-space limitations there
are certain restrictions placed upon the size
of the file that is to be copied — the file must
not contain more than 100 records of length
255 bytes or less.
• For simplicity, it has been assumed that
records will be transferred over the commu-
nication link without any perturbation.
Lines 10 to 330 are responsible for
operating the microcomputer as a termi-
nal device. The subroutine defined in
lines 500 to 570 is responsible for the file
transfer. The name of the file to be trans-
ferred is input at statement 505 and the
copy process is initiated by the command
message sent to the mainframe via the
print statement in line 525. Each record
transmitted to the microcomputer is pre-
ceded by a start-of-record character,
ASCII 62, and terminated by a carriage-
return / line-feed combination, ASCII 13
and 10.
The simplest strategy for transferring a
file to secondary storage involves a block-
by-block transfer mechanism. Such a
scheme is embodied in the algorithm in
figure 2. The transfer loop involves two
basic steps. First, a block of records is
transmitted to the micro; then, when the
block is complete and error-free it is
transferred to the local storage device.
Listing 2 shows a minimal implementa-
tion of the algorithm.
The underlying principle upon which
the subroutine depends is the same as that
which was employed in the implementa-
tion of the previous file-transfer process.
However, instead of sending a single copy
message to the mainframe, to initiate the
transfer of the whole file, a sequence of
messages of the form
COPY file name (S,F)
is used. Each of these, with the possible
exception of the last, copies across a seg-
ment of the file containing M records,
where
M = F - S + 1
In this expression, S and F represent
the start and finish record numbers within
a segment. Their values depend upon the
block size, M, and assume that the records
in the original file are numbered sequen-
tially starting from unity. The series of
values of S and F are thus,
S, = 1, M + 1, 2M + 1, 3M + 1,
F, = M, 2M, 3M, 4M,
The code shown in the listing performs
no error checking, neither of transmitted
data nor of user input from the terminal;
these refinements could be added in a
more detailed implementation. The sub-
routine depends upon the provision of
appropriate peripheral support routines
1. Obtain address of starting location (S).
2. Is this valid?
YES y NO
/ 1 ►Issue error message
/ and exit.
3^Dbtain address of end location (F).
4. Is this valid?
YES
NO
Issue error message
and exit.
5. Compute number of records to be transfer
red:
N = CEIL((F-S(/R)
6. Compute number of passes required.
7. Transfer first memory block to L$
array.
8. Invoke file transfer routine at its primary
entry point.
9. I <4— 2
10. Goto step 14.
11. Transfer Ith block of memory to the
L$ array.
12. Invoke file transfer routine at its secon-
dary entry point.
13.
-1 + 1
14. Is another pass required?
YES
-► Go to step 1 1 .
15. Exit.
Figure 4. The algorithm for memory transfer
to microcomputer secondary source.
to handle the secondary storage devices
to which a file is being transferred.
The first of these subroutines — line
455, Gosub 1000 — is responsible for
opening the local file on the external
device. The second — line 585, Gosub
1100 — is delegated the task of writing
the data blocks on to the chosen peri-
pheral; while the third — line 630, Gosub
1200 — performs all the housekeeping
activities associated with closing the local
file when transfer is complete. The sub-
routine shown in the listing has been used
to transfer mainframe files across to both
tape cassette and flexible disc — using a
standard Commodore 3040 twin-disc
unit.
In principle, the transfer of files from
an intelligent terminal might be expected
to require similar software, though data
flow is in the opposite direction. Because
the system is not totally symmetrical, the
principle of reversibility cannot be fully
employed, and the new algorithms and
programs that are developed will need to
(continued on next page)
ROTTEN APPLE?
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Anita Electronic Services Ltd.,
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01-253 2444
• Circle No. 209
TRS80 • GENIE
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• Circle No. 210
PET SOFTWARE
SALE!
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VISA/ACCESS orders accepted
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Telephone: Camberley (0276) 20446
Circle No. 211
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
159
Acorn Atom
CHESS
THE PROGRAM YOU’VE BEEN
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• Circle No. 206
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Barclay/Access orders accepted by telephone
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Circle No. 207
UK101 SOFTWARE ON TAPE
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Tel: (0642) 321266
• Circle No. 208
( continued from previous page )
Notice that the Ceil function is defined
in such a way that the value of Ceil(A) is
equal to A if A is an integer; otherwise, it
is equal to the smallest integer that is
larger than A.
Depending upon the memory size of
the micro there would he a limit placed on
the number of records that could be
accommodated. Based upon the way in
which character-string arrays are stored
1. Get mainframe file name from user.
2. Get local file name from user.
3. Get block size from user.
4. I<-1
5. Get Ith block from mainframe.
6. Write Ith block to secondary storage on
microcomputer
7. 14-1 + 1
8. Is file transfer complete?
►Go to step 5.
9. Close local file.
10. Exit.
in the Pet, it can be shown that, for a one-
dimensional array of K elements the
memory space required is
K
M = 7 + (K+1)x3 + 2;LEN(L$(I))
1=1
Assuming that all records are 255 bytes
long, the memory space available on a
32K Pet limits the value of K to about
1 20. However, for many applications the
record lengths are unlikely to exceed 80
characters, increasing the number of
records that could be handled to about
370. Larger files need to be off-loaded to
disc or tape storage. In this article, all
transfers to or from the mainframe take
place via a one-dimensional character
string array L$ created by a Basic pro-
gram running on the Pet.
When transferring data from a main-
frame file system to a target micro there
are two general cases to consider, which
differ according to whether the informa-
tion that is transferred to the micro is
• retained in- its primary memory area, or,
• transferred to its secondary storage system.
When a file is to be transferred to the
micro, the software that it contains has to
perform three basic operations. First, it
must send an appropriate message to the
mainframe in order to initiate file trans-
fer. Then, as records are received, it must
validate them, and request re-transmis-
sion if they are found to contain any
errors. Finally, each error-free record
Figure 2, above, is the algorithm formulation for file transfer to microcomputer secondary
stage. Listing 2, below, is the implementation.
1 DIM LT( 100) : REM BUFFER STORAGE
2 G0SUB 100 : REM CONFIGURE INTERFACE
3 GOSIJB 400 • REM PERFORM FILE TRANSFER
4 STOP
10 REM : PET AS A REMOTE TERMINAL
20 G0SUB 100: REM SET UP MODEM
400 REM FILE TRANSFER TO PET WITH
410 REM OUTPUT TO SECONDARY' STORAGE
420 INPUT" (cursor home, down * 4) FILE TO BE TRANSFERRED"; XT
430 INPUT" (cursor down * SO LOCAL FILE NAME"; ZT
440 INPUT "(cursor down # 3) BLOCKS I ZE " ;M
450 IF M>190 THEN PR I NT "(cursor down) BLOCKS I ZE TOO BIG" GOTO 440
455 G0SUB 1000 • REM OPEN FILE ON SECONDARY' STORAGE DEVICE
460 SX=1 FX=M •' N=0
465 K=0
466 FOR 1=1 TO M : LT(I>="" : NEXT I
470 ST=M IDT ( STRT ( S^> , 2 >
475 FT=M I DT ( STRT ( F>i > , 2 )
480 VT="TC0PY , "+XT+"("+ST+" . "+FT+")"
490 PRINT # 1 , VT
500 GET#2, IT : IF ST=2 OR IT="" THEN 500
510 IF ASC(IT >=62 THEN 530
520 PRINT IT; • GOTO 500
530 N=N+1 : K=K+ 1 PRINT "RECORD", N
540 GET#2, IT : IF ST=2 OR IT="" THEN 540
550 IF HSC (IT ) O 1 3 THEN LT(KO=LT(K)+IT :G0T0 540
560 GET#2, IT IF F ST=2 OR IT="" THEN 560
570 IF ASCOT >=10 THEN 560
580 IF ASCOT >=62 THEN 530
585 GOSUB 1100 : REM WRITE BLOCK TO SECONDARY* STORE
590 IF K<M THEN 620
600 SX=SX+M • FX=FE+M
610 GOTO 465
620 PRINT "TRANSFER COMPLETE"
630 GOSUB 1200 : REM CLOSE LOCAL FILE
640 RETURN
1000
1010 Support routines tor secondary storage devices etc.
158
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
Networking
between their attached storage peri-
pherals, the algorithms may need to
incorporate suitable conversion rules.
The complexity of these will depend upon
the nature of both the intelligent terminal
and the host system.
Consider the process of file transfer in a
system in which a mainframe computer,
acting as a host, services the file-transfer
activity associated with an intelligent ter-
minal device. For the purpose of illustra-
tion a 32 K Commodore Pet is used as the
intelligent terminal. It communicates
with a remote IBM-370/ 168 over the
public switched network — see Practical
Computer, January 1982.
All algorithms have been implemented
in Basic, though in those situations where
speed improvement is required, the use of
machine code would be more desirable.
Before discussing the details of the algo-
rithms a brief description of the file struc-
ture used on the mainframe and the
microcomputer is necessary.
Files resident on the mainframe may be
regarded as collections of records each of
which consists of contiguous eight-bit
bytes. Individual files may contain
records of fixed or variable length. They
may be of any non-zero length up to a
maximum of 32,767 bytes. Particular
records within a file may be uniquely
identified by means of their associated
record number, which lies in the range
— 99,999.999 to 99,999.999.
This mainframe file structure may be
easily modelled on the microcomputer by
means of a Basic character-string array.
Essentially, each mainframe record is
represented by one or more elements of
the array. Storage for a file can thus be
allocated by a statement of the form
10 DIM L$ (100)
which reserves memory storage for a file
containing 100 records. These records
cannot exceed 255 bytes; records longer
than this have to be modelled by a two-
dimensional character array. Thus, a
record of L bytes could be segmented into
Ceil(L/255) sub-records of maximum
length 255. They could then be stored in
such a way that one of the subscripts of an
array reference identifies a particular
record while the other identifies the
required segment within that record: e.g.,
L$(2,4) references the second 255-byte
segment of the fourth record in the file.
(continued on next page)
Listing 1.
1 DIM L* <100 >
2 G i”i SUB 100 G0SUB 500 STOP
10 REM - PET AS R REMOTE TERMINAL
20 GQSUB 100 REM SET UP MODEM
38 G0SUB 288 REM GET KEYBOARD CHARACTER
40 GQSUB 300 REM GET MAINFRAME CHARACTER
50 GOT 0 30
100 REM *** CONFIGURE INTERFACE ***
110 OPEN 1,4 : REM OUTPUT CHANNEL
120 OPEN 2,6 = REM INPUT CHANNEL
1 30 PR I NT# 1 , CHRT < 255 ) ; " FXXGfi "
140 RETURN
200 REM *** GET KEYBOARD CHARACTER ***
210 GET AT • IF AT=" " THEN = RETURN
220 PR I NT# 1, AT;
230 RETURN
300 REM *** GET MAINFRAME CHARACTER ***
310 GET#2,AT • IF ST=2 THEN : RETURN
320 PRINT AT.:
330 RETURN
500 REM *** FILE TRANSFER TO PET ***
505 INPUT" (cursor return, down x 4> FILE NAME"; XT
515 VT="TCQPV"+XT
520 FOR 1=1 TO 100 : LT< I > = " " : NEXT I
525 PR I NT# 1, YT : K=0
530 GET#2, IT = IF ST=2 OR IT="" THEN 530
535 IF ASC < I T > =62 THEN 545
536 PRINT IT;
PI40 GOTO 530
545 K=K+1 : PRINT " RECORD ",K
550 GET#2, IT •' IF ST=2 OR 1 = "" THEN 550
555 IF ASC< IT >013 THEN LT<K>=LT<K>+IT : GOTO 550
560 GET#2, IT = IF ST=2 OR IT="" THEN 560
564 IF ASC<IT>=10 THEN 560
565 IF ASC (IT) =62 THEN 545
570 PRINT "TRANSFER COMPLETE" ■ RETURN
Professional
products for
practical People
ASCII Keyboards
■ Upper & Lower Case
plus Control
■ Low Power
Consumption
■ Shift & Alpha Lock
■ Autorepeat (Model 777)
■ Parallel Data Output
■ Metal Mounting Frame
■ Suitable for Tuscan,
Tangerine etc.
Model KB756A 56 key £39.50
KB710 Numeric Pad £ 7.50
KB771 72 key £55.00
KB777 77 key £62.50
Accessories available include: -
Metal Case £12.95
Edge Connector £ 1.95
DC to DC Convertor £ 5.00
(for operation off single 5V supply)
High Resolution
Computer Monitor
■ 12” Green P31 Phosphor ■ Toroidal Transformer
■ 80 Character ■ Composite Video Input
Line Capability ■ Ideal for Apple, Gemini.
■ 22 MHz Video Bandwidth Nascom, Tuscan etc.
■ 240V AC Input MODEL 101 £129.50
U.K. Orders add 15% VAT on order total
Orders under £15 add £1.50 p&p. plus VAT
Overseas orders add £2.50 p&p
FULL DATA SHEETS ON REQUEST
Citadel Products Ltd
Dept. P.C. 50 High Street Edgware
Middlesex HA8 7EP Tel:01-951 1848
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
157
SURPLUS STOCK
Superbrain QD 64K/700K £1,895
MP1 Matrix Printer 88G £375
Disks — Maxell MD1 (SS/SD) £18 for 10
MD2 (DD/DS) £25 for 10
Major Brand Software:
Sales Ledger; Purchase Ledger; Nominal
Ledger; Wages; Stock Control £285 each,
£775 for 3 / £995 for 4 / £1,235 for 5.
QD Superbrain plus 3 programs, £2,525
QD Superbrain plus 3 programs,
plus MPI printer £2,850
Weekday evenings (0742) 682107.
• Circle No. 202
PET and VIC
Southampton
HIRE Commodore equipment by the week, all including
manuals, cassette deck, media etc.
16K £20. 32K £25, Disk or Printer £25, VIC 20 £9
Ex hire equipment with guarantee usually available-
32K from £425. Part exchange your old 8K PET.
NOW LOWEST EVER PRICES
FOR NEW PRODUCTS
4016N 12" screen £455.00
4032N 12" screen £555.00
8032N 80 columns £795.00
4040 Dual Disk £625.00
2031 Single Disk £355.00
4022 Printer £355.00
C2N Cassette Deck £ 44.95 (inc VAT)
VIC 20 Colour Computer £189.95 (inc VAT)
Large range of software, books etc stocked
TOOLKIT BASIC 4 £30.00
6550 RAMs £12.00
All prices are cash-and-carry and exclude VAT
OFFICIAL COMM ODORE DEALER
Sup e r - Vision
13 St James Road, Shirley, Southampton
Telephone (0703) 774023
After hours (0703) 554488
• Circle No. 203
ADVENTURE GAMES -
MACHINE CODE PROGRAMS FOR THE UKIOI
OR SUPERBOARD WITH ANY MONITOR
T. NEW YORK SUBWAY/TROLL'S TUNNEL (£5.50)
Overcome the troll*. none giant, »rid many other
montteri to escape from an underground prison.
2. ZOMBIE FOREST/VAMPIRE CASTLE (£5.50)
Survive the servants of the Evil One, and nd
the forest of its dark curse.
3. KY. TEMPLE OF THE DRAGONKING (£5.50)
With strong shield and pulsating sword, slay the
dragon and liberate y pur people.
EACH ABOVE PACK HAS TWO
8K PROGRAMS
4. ALIEN ADVENTURE 16K (£6.00)
Your spacecraft is stranded on an asteroid in deep
space. Escape is possible, but not easy.
TWO OR MORE PACKS - LESS 20%
From Mr M Perkins. 290 Station Road,
Stechford, Birmingham B33 8QR
• Circle No. 204
LISTING PAPER
2000 Sheets per Box
1 1"x 9W ruled or plain £ 16.00
ITx M 1 /^" ruled only £ 17.00
FULLY INCLUSIVE OF CARRIAGE AND VAT
UK MAINLAND ONLY CASH WITH ORDER
Scholarly Supplies
Woodlands Park Avenue
Woodlands Park, Maidenhead, Berks
Tel: Littlewick Green (062882) 3104
• Circle No. 205
In his second and concluding article on networking,
Philip Barker outlines some of the techniques needed to
use the Pet as an intelligent terminal involved in file-
transfer operations.
File transfer on
Pet terminal
INTEREST is growing in the use of micro-
computer systems as intelligent terminal
devices. Fundamental to this mode of
operation are facilities that provide the
micro with the capability of being
attached to some other larger computer
configuration called a host system. To
achieve this type of interconnection suit-
able Modems and interfaces are neces-
sary. Through these the microcomputer
will be able to communicate with,
• a remote or local mainframe/minicomputer,
• a local network of other intelligent terminals,
or,
• a generalised, geographically-distributed
computer network.
In addition, the microcomputer may also
be capable of acting as a host to other
units that are able to interconnect with it
in an appropriate way.
Once attached to a host system there
are many ways in which an intelligent
terminal can contribute to and utilise the
available resources. Three of the more
important of these are,
• the initiation of computational processes
within the host system,
• the support of certain processes delegated
to it by the host, and,
• participation in file-transfer activity.
As a consequence of these three basic
operations, many new types of man-
machine interaction become possible.
Much progress has been made recently
in the development of geographically-dis-
tributed computer systems. Usually,
these consist of a series of processing
nodes interconnected by suitable commu-
nication links. Nodes in the network com-
munity are able to communicate with
each other bv means of a variety of mess-
age-passing techniques.
A message is essentially a contiguous
sequence of symbols. When transmitted
between one entity and another, mess-
ages usually invoke some form of action
or response on the part of its recipient.
The effect of a message depends upon
both its information content and the rules
of interpretation used by the entity that
receives it. Messages usually have only a
transient existence and are fairly short in
duration.
In addition to message transfer, most
distributed systems permit files of data or
information to be transmitted between
nodes. Like a message, a file may be
regarded as a contiguous sequence of
characters. However, a file is a much
more complex entity than a message.
Unlike a message, it is usually more
highly structured, has a greater physical
volume, contains far more information
and has a much longer lifetime.
When transferring files of information
between nodes in a network, several fac-
tors have to be considered:
• media considerations.
• direction of transfer,
• transfer time,
• error control, and,
• physical and logical file structure.
Algorithms and programs for file-transfer
operations must take into account the
effects of all of these factors. Further-
more, because of the intrinsic differences
between network-processing nodes, and
Figure 1. Algorithm formulation for file
transfer from mainframe to microcomputer
memory.
1 . Get file name from user.
2. Does the file exist?
3 ?
3. Is access permitted?
NO Issue error message
and exit.
YES>
NO Issue error message
►and exit.
4H^-1
5. Get Ith record from mainframe.
6. Any transmission errors?
YES
— ► Request
retransmission of
record.
Go to step 5.
7. Is there room to store it?
Issue error message
and exit.
8. ^tore record.
9. 14-1 + 1
10. Is file transfer complete?
YES/ I NO
► Go to step 5.
11 Exit
156
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
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sauteg
NASCOM/SHARP MZ 80 K
Pascal for Nascoms and Sharp MZ80K
Hisoft offer a very fast 12K Pascal compiler producing
Z80 object code directly i.e. no P-code.
STATEMENTS: CASE .. OF. IF .. THEN .. ELSE.
REPEAT .. UNTIL. WHILE .. DO.
BEGIN .. END
TYPES: INTEGER. REAL (7 sig. figs.). CHAR.
BOOLEAN. ARRAY. SET, COLOUR.
Many standard procedures and functions are sup-
ported including trigonometric functions and all proce-
dures and functions may be used fully recursively.
The object programs run very fast and require only the
runtime routines (4K) to be present.
Price: Nascom Pascal £35
Sharp MZ80K Pascal £37
New Monitor for Nascoms
NASMON is a new 4K monitor incorporating a powerful
‘front panel' display of memory, registers and flags
together with an extended screen editor. We supply a
range of software to run under NASMON: BAS12K, a
12K BASIC interpreter with 1 1 digit floating point arith-
metic. NASGEN. a very fast Z80 assembler. NASNEM.
a 2 V 2 K disassembler and NASPAS, the 12K Pascal
compiler described above.
Prices: NASMON £30
NASGEN in EPROM £25
NASGEN on tape £15
BAS12K on tape £25
NASNEM in EPROM £15
NASNEM on tape £10
Z80 Development Package for Gemini G805 Disk
Owners
The package comprises an extended screen editor, a
fast Z80 assembler and a debugger with a ‘front panel'
mode and a Z80 disassembler. All supplied on one 5V*
inch diskette with full documentation.
Price £50.
All prices are fully inclusive.
Full details may be obtained from:
HISOFT
60 Hallam Moor, Llden,
SWINDON, SN3 6LS.
Tel: Swindon 26618
( an » wring machine service).
• Circle No. 195
ACORN ATOM UTILITY ROM
£29.90
The Willow Software 4K Utility ROM simply plugs into
the spare utility ROM socket in your Atom and provides
18 powerful new commands and facilities including:
Renumber, Range delete. Find, Auto line numbers,
Program compression. Disassembler. True keyboard
scanning. Memory dump, Variable dump, Register
dump. Keyboard sounder, and much more. The Utilities
make the Atom easier to use. and provide a toolkit' of
facilities for program development in both Basic and
Assembler. The ROM Utilities are professionally writ-
ten and fully tested. All standard Atom facilities are
unaffected and no textspace memory is used.
Due to increased demand, we are now able to offer the
Utility ROM with full instruction manual at the reduced
price of only £29.90 inclusive — post free. Send
cheque/PO now for delivery by return of post, or write
for further details. Official orders and Dealer enquiries
welcome.
WILLOW SOFTWARE
PO Box 6, Creditor!, Devon EX17 1 DL
• Circle No. 196
Programmers and Analyst
programmers required.
Knowledge of BASIC essential.
CPM desirable.
Work in London — good salary.
Contact Geoff Planer:
WINDMILL RD, SUNBURY, MIDDX.
Tel: (09327) 86262.
• Circle No. 197
(continued from previous page)
expected from pure chance. If the genera-
tor really is truly random, it will generate
each number once every nine tries, on
average — see table 1.
Number
Deviation
Deviation 2
generated
from average
1
-4
16
2
-3
9
3
-2
4
4
-1
1
5
0
0
6
1
1
7
2
4
8
3
9
9
4
16
Total =
60
Table 1.
The total of 60 in the right-hand
column is then divided by 9, the number
of numbers generated, to give the value of
6.66666, which is called the variance. The
standard deviation is the square root of
the variance, 2.582 in this case.
The standard error of estimate gives an
indication of how the expected deviation
will decrease as more tries are made. It is
equal to the standard deviation divided by
the square root of the number of games
played. You can be 95 percent certain
that the result will lie within plus or minus
two standard errors of estimate of the
actual average, so you should only be
expected to achieve this “significant”
average by chance once in 20 tries. You
can be 99.8 percent certain that the result
will lie within plus or minus three stan-
dard errors of estimate of the actual aver-
age, so you should only be expected to
achieve this “highly significant” average
by chance once in 500 tries. The possible
deviations around the average due to
chance are shown in figure 1.
Program A tests the Acorn Atom to see if the
average achieved lies within these limits.
The random-number generator selects a
number, and then the Atom will count up to
that number before selecting the next. Every
50 games the program will stop, and the
following information will be presented:
• number of games played
• number of guesses made
• average guesses per game
• the value of two standard errors of estimate
for games played
• the value of three standard errors of estim-
ate for games played
• the 95 percent and 99.8 percent limits that
could be achieved by chance, that is, the
average guesses per game plus the appro-
priate number of standard errors of estimate
• whether the result is significant in demons-
trating a ‘‘real” difference. The program, as
written, is looking for averages which are
less than five.
On pressing the Shift key, another 50
games will be played, and so on. Up to
2,000 games have been played with this
program, and at all times the results dis-
played have been within plus or minus
three standard errors, which indicates
that the Atom random-number generator
is probably good enough for this experi-
ment. As you will see later, you may have
to play over 200 games to obtain a signifi-
cant result, and the generator will
certainly perform well enough with that
number.
Program 2 is designed to test your ESP
10 REM E.S.P. TESTER Program 1.
12 PRINT #12; REM CLEAR SCREEN
15 A=8; B=@; F=SQR<60/9>
75 FOR K=1 to 1000
80 N=ABSRNDX9+ 1 ; @=0
100 FOR 0=1 TO 9; X=G
110 IF X=N GOTO 205
120 PRINT X" IS WRONG" "
125 B=B+1
130 NEXT G
205 B=B+1
210 PRINT N" IS CORRECT""
220 A=A+ 1 ; IF 8X50=0 GOTO 310
230 NEXT K
310 XE=B/A
390 PRINT '"GAMES PLAVEB = "A"
400 PRINT-' "NO. OF GUESSES = "B"
420 FPR I NT ""AVERAGE GUESSES ="XE""
425 XQ=3#XF/<SQR A): XR=2*XF/ < SQR A>
430 FPRINT"95.0X LIMITS = +/-“’/. R"
435 FF'RINT"99.8X LIMITS =
440 y.j=y.E+y.Q; y.K=y.E+y.R
441 FPRINT"99.8X UPPER LIMIT ="’/. J"
442 FPRINT "95X UPPER LIMIT ="XK"
443 FIF XK>5 FPRINT" "NOT VET SIGNIFICANT" "; GOTO 480
445 FIF XK<5 FPRINT" "SIGNIFICANT AT 95X LEVEL""
450 FIF XJ<5 FPRINT ""SIGNIFICANT AT 99 . 8 ’/. LEVEL""
480 PRINT "PRESS SHIFT KEV TO CONTINUE"""
490 DO; WAIT; UNTIL ?#B001O#FF
500 NEXT K
999 END
154
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
— Games
Extra-sensory
exercises
Extra-sensory perception has had the attention of a
number of serious investigators. This game, written by
Tony Capper for the Acorn Atom and based on simple
statistical principles, tests the possibility of paranormal
communication between you and your machine.
THE COMPUTER selects a random
number in the range one to nine and the
player then has several attempts at gues-
sing the number. Anyone who plays this
game may soon convince themselves that
they possess ESP talent if they can find
the correct number in less than an average
of five guesses. However, a careful stat-
istical study of the results is needed to be
sure that it was not just a fluke.
The mathematics are not very compli-
cated, and have been built into these pro-
grams, which are written for the Acorn
Atom with floating point. The programs
can be modified to work with integer
maths using a suitable scaling factor.
It is worth examining the numbers pro-
vided by the Atom random-number
generator, to see how good it is at produc-
ing truly random numbers. It chooses a
number between one and nine, so the
average number expected is five. The
greater the number of tries, the nearer the
average will be to five, but there can be
big deviations from this average when
only a few tries have been made.
So how do you tell if it has a good
random-number generator? First, you
must calculate the standard deviation,
from which you can estimate the devia-
tions from the average that can be
(continued on next page)
★ ★
On our launch we are pleased
to offer you
£1350 OF FREE
MICROCOMPUTER
software and services which
includes: Incomplete Record/
Book-keeping/Financial
Accounting and Payroll. General
Data Management, Invoicing,
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Processing systems and one day
training with first 50 ADLER-
ALPHATRONIC
MICROCOMPUTERS sold at
£2,345 each, leasing from
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Please telephone for a
demonstration to
Watford 48580.
OVERSEAS COMPUTER
SYSTEMS CONSULTANTS
182a, Queens Road, Watford.
★ ★
• Circle No. 193
RAM BARGAINS
41 16*200ns. 80p each
100 + 68p each
2114-200ns. 80p each
100+ 75p each
2114-450ns. 75p each
100+ 70p each
Other IC's available.
Plus 50p P&P + VAT at 15%.
ATHANA FLOPPIES
Minis with free plastic library case
S/S-S/D £19.95 for 10
D/S-D/D £25.50 for 10
S/S-Quad.D. £28.50 for 10
All with hub rings. 8' discs.
S/S-D/D £26.50 for 10
D/S-D/D £27.50 for 10
Add 85p P&P + VAT at 15%.
Computer Desk £49.80
Computer Desk with shelf for disc drives/
printer feed £59.90.
Add carr + VAT at 1 5%.
□PUS SUPPLIES
10 BECKENHAM GROVE,
SHORTLANDS, KENT.
RING: 01-464 5040 or 01-467 9309 for
further details and quantity discounts.
• Circle No. 194
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
153
1HERE4LCOST
OF A SHARP
COMPUTER SYSTEM
We could simply scream at you ‘Get a Sharp MZ-80K personal
computer for only E399I’
But you know, and we know, that there’s more to it than that. As
your interest increases or your business grows, you will want to
exploit the unique versatility of your Sharp system - MZ-80K, MZ-80B
or PC-3201.
So we thought we would set your mind at rest about the cost of
expansion. We print here all the prices relevant to system expansion
on these three popular and widely recognised computers.
If you think this demonstrates a straightforward and workmanlike
attitude on our part, just look at the prices. You will see that they are
just as down-to-earth as the rest of our approach.
Butel-Comco support for Sharp users is complete. Advice is freely
available. Maintenance contracts can be arranged. A wide range of
supplies and software can be supplied.
Sharp MZ-80 K
Personal Computer
Sharp MZ-80B
Personal Computer
Sharp PC3201
Business Computer
I
»■ ( the butel price guide
MZ-80K Computer 20K. 25cm CRT. Tape cassette. ASCII keyboard.
MZ-80K Computer 48K.
MZ-U/G 28K upgrade.
MZ-80 I/O Interface unit.
MZ-80FD Dual disk drive.
MZ-80FDK Additional dual disk drive.
MZ-80 RS232 interface.
MZ-80P3 Matrix printer.
CP/M Operating system.
MZ-80 1/0-1 Universal interface card.
MZ-80BM BASIC manual.
MZ-80T10B BASIC tape.
MZ-80T20C Machine language tape and manual.
MZ-80TU Assembler tape and manual (System Program).
MZ-80T40E PASCAL interpreter manual and application tape.
MZ-80 B Computer 64K. 23cm CRT. Tape
cassette. ASCII keyboard.
MZ-80FD Twin floppy disk unit.
MZ-80FDK Additional twin floppy disk unit.
MZ-80P5 Matrix printer. 80cps. 80col.
MZ-80FI Floppy disk interface card.
MZ-80MDB Master diskette and manual.
MZ-80F1 5 Cable for MZ-80FD.
MZ-F05 Cable for MZ-80FDK
MZ-BCJ Floppy disk cable jointer.
MZ-80EU Expansion unit.
MZ-80GMK Graphic RAM-II option.
MZ-80 1/02 Universal interface card.
MZ-80T10C MZ-80K to MZ-80B converter tape.
CP/M. Operating system.
PC-3201 Computer 64K. ASCII keyboard
CE-320C 80x25-character display terminal.
CE-332P 80cps, 80/132col matrix printer.
RP-1 600/5 60cps, 132col daisywheel High-Q printer.
CE-331 M Twin floppy diskette unit.
CE-341 M Floppy diskette interface.
CE-350L Additional diskette drive cable.
CE-332A 48K RAM upgrade.
CE-340R RS232 interface card.
CE-340G General purpose I/O parallel interface card.
CE-350R Printer ribbon for 332P.
10x5V«in diskettes.
CE-330G Direct program generator.
Sales Ledger program and manual.
Purchase Ledger program and manual.
Nominal Ledger program and manual.
Invoicing System program and manual.
Stock Control program and manual.
Note: All prices quoted exclude VAT, freight costs and insurance.
All items are available through our
fast and efficient Mail Order Service
or come and collect it from our
‘computer centre’ counter. We
accept Access and Barclaycard and
can arrange Citibank hire purchase.
Simply ask for a quotation.
152
Hours of business:
Mon-Fri 9:30-5:30 and Saturdays
from 9:30 until 1 :00.
All prices are correct at time of
going to press.
Call, telephone or write to:
Butel-Comco Limited,
Garrick Industrial Centre
Garrick Road. Hendon.
London NW9 6AQ.
Telephone: 01-202 0262
Technology for business
• Circle No. 192
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
'Micromouse
(continued from page 149)
calculate the lengths of time — and there-
fore the number of pulses — required for
it to reach its new position.
If you read last month’s article, you
might be wondering how Thezeus
managed to get anywhere at all when
driven by a servo that can only rotate
through 90°. The answer is to build a
servo with an output shaft which rotates
continuously.
Mouse weekend
Having sawn off inconvenient limit
stops, etc., you then have to fool the
electronics. To do this you disconnect the
internal variable register on the output
shaft and replace it with a fixed register
with a value in the middle of the range of
the variable register. A continuous
stream of short pulses should now cause
continuous rotation in one direction, long
pulses the other. Stopping the pulses
stops the servo.
Everything, including the ZX-80, the
motor and the servos, can be powered by
four high-discharge AA-size ni-cad cells
Figure 3. Pulses for servo control.
INPUT
PULSES
JH
SERVO
I r* 1m. second pulses
, -JlN second puise s
10-30nvssoond it _^ 2m. second pulses
second Output Shaft
which produce 4.8 volts. A smoothing
capacitor must be fitted across the power
lines near the ZX-80; 1,000/u.F to-
2,200/zF electrolytic should do.
The code shown in table 1 generates
the pulses and time delays
Alan Dibley makes no claim to eleg-
ance, and he has used the chips and other
components which he found to hand. If
you can do better, write to the Micro-
mouse page.
At the bottom of his garden, Dibley has
an 11 -by- 11 square maze. If you are
interested in another Mouse weekend,
please phone him at 0934 742360. Q
Table 1. Code for servo-control pulses.
Hex
code
Pseudomnemonic
Short
06XX
B - XX
adjust XXfor
10FE
DJN.-Z
time
count B down
Long
210000
HL - 0000
to zero
fine adjustment
23
inc HL
CB 5C
BIT H3
coarse adjustment
28 FB
JRZ, -5
repeat if bit
tested to zero.
TECPACS
The reliable technical prog rams for desktop computers
TECPACS are high-quality,
technical software packages,
written and tested by professionals
for professionals. They can be
used in your office, no large
centralised computing facilities
are needed, and computing
experience is unnecessary. With
TECPACS, designers and engineers
can explore design alternatives
with ease and confidence.
TECPACS offer such features as
□ Built-in high technical standard
□ Easy to use, friendly style
For further details,
of TECPACS available contact the:
Technical Software Centre
BHRA Fluid Engineering
Cranfield. Bedford MK43 OAJ
England
or telephone Rita Chandler on
0234 750 102
□ Data checking facilities
□ Trend facilities
□ Choice of units
□ High-quality presentation of
results
Typical TECPACS available
□ GRAPHKIT, graph plotting,
curve fitting, non-linear
regression £80
□ HISTOKIT, high resolution
histograms, univariate
statistics £80
□ MULTIVAR, multiple linear
regression analysis £100
tecnac
□ FLANGE-5500, flange design
to BS 5500, £350
□ GEARS-1, gear design to
Gleeson standards, spur and
helical £100
TECPACS add another
professional to your team. In your
office, or in the design office,
just switch on, select your
TECPAC program disk, and in
minutes you have the answers
you need.
For use with PETS and APPLES
• Circle No. 191
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
151
nenorccn
I ncmoTecn 1
memory extension
board
The MEMOTECH memory extension board will allow
the ZX81 to run 48K BASIC programs which may
include up to 16K of assembly code.
The unit contains a genuine 48K of user transparent
RAM, and accepts such BASIC commands as:
10 DIM A(9000).
A range of I/O Port boards and A/D, D/A convertors is
available. The unit is compatible with the ZX Printer,
and RS232 interface will be available soon.
The MEMOTECH memory has a fully buffered control-
data-address bus with PCB 40 way header plug.
The ZX81 sits on a custom built case which contains
the MEMOTECH memory and a power supply which
not only powers the MEMOTECH memory, but also the
ZX81.
All Leads are provided. The MEMOTECH memory
extension board costs: £109.00 + VAT in kit form,
£129.00 4- VAT assembled. 15% Educational user dis-
counts are available.
48K memory
extension for
the ZH8L.
Please make cheques payable to:
neroarccn
(Sales Dept.) 1 03, Walton Street, Oxford. 0X2 6EB.
150
• Circle No. 190
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
~~ Micromouse ^—
What makes Thezeus run
Son of Thezeus ready to go, including sawn-off ZX-80 and 4K RAM pack.
Nick Smith continues his
account of Alan Dibley’s
successful mice, Thezeus and
Son of Thezeus. Here he
reports on how their Sinclair
ZX-80 brains are interfaced to
the steering and mechanics.
starting from the back of the ZX-80,
Alan Dibley has created the four-bit out-
put port shown in figure 1. A15 is not
used in the ZX-80, although it would not
matter as long as it was only used for
memory addressing. The combination of
A15, write and IORQ — input/output
required — is output and connected to the
clock input of the latches. The bottom
four bits of the data bus are connected to
the data inputs of the latches.
The latches therefore remember and
output what was on the data bus at the
time of the last clock pulse. All this is
taken care of by one machine-code
instruction.
Breaks every rule
The methods Dibley uses to build these
interfaces breaks every rule in the book:
the chips are glued to a convenient point
on the chassis with their legs in the air.
Connections are then made by soldering
wires directly to the pins. The control-
signal wires are soldered directly to the
ZX-80 printed-circuit board.
All the electrical leads have connectors
in them so that the mice can be taken
apart easily, and quickly reassembled.
The machine-code instruction he uses
is
OUT (C),H
which sends the C register to address bits
AO to A7, the B register to address bits
A8 to A15 and the contents of the H
register to the data bus. According to
Zilog, address bits AO to A7 are supposed
to be the port address, but this does not
seem to matter. To set all the latch out-
puts to 0 you need the subroutine:
2600 H — 00 data for latches
0680 B — 80 return address
bit 15
0E00 C ^ 00
ED61 OUT (C),H do the work
C9 Return
It should be Poked into memory, and
called a USR () statement. To set one or
more of the latch outputs to 1 , first change
the value register H initialised to in the
first line.
The other major circuit is used to con-
trol the drive motor of Son of Thezeus,
and is shown in figure 2. The variable
resistor in the input limits the current the
motor can draw, and thus its acceleration.
The resistor across the motor introduces
an element of dynamic braking when the
transistor is off. The capacitor protects
the transistor from current surges and
reduces noise from the motor. Any npn
power transistor should do, such as an
AC-141, but it might need a heat sink.
Everything else on both mice is driven
by radio-control servos. Believe it or not,
the latch outputs can be connected
directly to the servo inputs.
Pulse control
A servo is controlled by a stream of
input pulses. The gap between these
pulses is not critical, and anything
between approximatly 10 and 30ms.
should do — 20ms. is a safe value. If you
do not send or stop sending the servo
pulses, the output stops immediately
wherever it is.
The position the shaft stops at, within
90° of travel, depends on the length of the
input pulses. Typical values are
1ms.; hard left
1 .5ms.; centre
2ms. hard right.
These durations are critical and vary from
servo to servo so some experimenting
with each particular servo is required.
Suppose the servo is set hard left and
you send a stream of 1.5ms. pulses at
20ms. intervals. The output shaft will turn
until it reaches the middle, where it will
stop. If you do not send enough pulses the
shaft will stop before it gets to the middle,
but too many pulses do not move it
beyond the middle. A servo takes about
0.5 seconds to rotate 90°, so a string of
pulses lasting one second should be
enough. If you wish you can keep track of
the current position of the servo and thus
(continued on page 151)
Figure 1. Circuit for Thezeus’ output port.
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
149
Puzzle:
Number bees
THIS HONEYCOMB is the home of
the numerical bees. Rather than
producing honey, the bees of this
hive produce numbers. However,
they are not just produced at ran-
dom; an ancient and mystic set of
rules governs the numbers that
appear in each cell. In fact there is
just one set of numbers that fit.
The hive’s new Bee Bee Cee
computer has not yet arrived, so
can you help them out?
Clues
Across
1. The product of two primes.
2. Half of the product of two
across and two up.
4. The product of a square and two
up.
5. A prime number.
6. A prime number.
by Tony Roberts
Up ^
2. One less than the difference
between five up and five down.
4. The square of six across.
5. The product of one across and
the difference between one
across and six across.
6. Six times the difference
between seven up and two up.
7. One-ninth of the sum of one
across, six across and four up.
Down |
1 . The cube of six across.
2. A cube.
3. The cube of one across, with
digits reversed.
Solution to December puzzle
THE smallest sum possible from the
Knight's gambit puzzle is zero. It can be
achieved by the following sequence of
moves:
6x3 + 2-^5x1-M + 7- 8 = 0 Q
CITY MICROSYSTEMS LIMITED
SUPERBRAIN
65 LONDON WALL, LONDON EC2M 5TU
01-588 7272
TELEVIDEO SYSTEMS
VIDEO GENIE
with VISICALC
320K, 680K and 1 .5MB Diskdrives.
Full graphics available.
Wide range of standard packages.
Multi-user, multi-task, multi-processor, televideo
reliability with complete expandability.
One to sixteen users.
Complete system £1275, inc. Computer,
Monitor, Expander, 1-disk drive printer
and Software.
Vast library of standard software.
Complete business accounting systems from £2000. Word processors from £1420
ADVICE, TRAINING AND MAINTENANCE
ALL YOUR COMPUTER REQUIREMENTS READILY AVAILABLE
IN THE CENTRE OF THE CITY — LONDON EC2
VISITORS TO OUR OFFICES MOST WELCOME’ 1 0.30am-4.30pm
148
• Circle No. 189
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
Book reviews
The Basic handbook
Second edition by David Lien.
Published by Compusoft
Publishing at $19.95.
ONCE every few years a book
is published which just cannot
be ignored: the first edition of
The Basic handbook was just
such a book. Three years later
David Lien has produced a
much expanded second edition
which retains the original
format.
All the keywords are des-
cribed using a standard form of
presentation which is clear and
comprehensive. As well as a
description of the instructions’
function, a test routine is
provided to allow the reader to
check whether his compiler or
interpreter supports the key-
word or its alternative spell-
ings.
Where it does not, The Basic
handbook provides other ways
of achieving the same results
by means of other instructions.
Known variations in the use of
the word are also catalogued.
Many people regard Basic as
a restricted and restrictive lan-
guage — a quick glance at this
book will soon put the lie to
such thoughts. Basic has devel-
oped a good deal, since it was
conceived at Dartmouth Col-
lege. It is now a full-blown lan-
guage with versions suitable
for all data-processing prob-
lems, even teaching, and many
are covered by this one book.
This edition covers almost
twice the number of words
included in the original edition
— it now describes over 500
words. At that rate the third
edition will be in two volumes.
For any user of Basic who
has to convert programs writ-
ten for other machines for his
own, this book will prove
essential. It will certainly
prove cheaper than collecting
the appropriate manuals.
There is a sensible, well-writ-
ten guide to program conver-
sion and a section providing an
overview of some of the more
unusual implementations of
the language.
If this book has any failing it
is in its coverage of disc and
print-file handling. The short
chapter covering these sub-
jects does not pretend to be
comprehensive. The author
points out that there is little
standardisation in this area
and a more comprehensive
treatment using the approach
of the main body of the text
will have to wait until there is
more stability.
Conclusions
• Most microcomputer users
need at some time to convert
programs written in one of the
multitude of Basic dialects: this
book is an invaluable tool for
such a task.
• Although not a substitute for
the language reference
manual, this work provides an
encyclopaedic reference to all
the major versions of Basic. It
should be on all Basic program-
mers’ bookshelves.
• David Lien is to be congrat-
ulated on his dedication to the
documentation of the Basic
language — at the current rate,
the third edition will be
spectacular.
Martin Wilson
DON’T (or How to
Care For Your
Computer)
By Rodney Zaks. Published by
Sybex. 217 pages. Paperback.
ISBN 0 89588 065 2
YET another publication
from one of the computer
world’s most prolific authors.
It is unlikely to set the world on
fire but nevertheless contains
a large quantity of useful
information.
The 13 chapters cover hard-
ware, software, peripherals,
documentation, discs and
tapes, security and main-
tenance. Zaks’ main proposi-
tion in Don't is that today’s
hardware is generally reliable;
it is usually the operator who is
likely to cause problems.
The book explains that
many faults only emerge some
time after the cause, which is
usually consequently difficult
to trace since the offender is
either not around when the
problem emerges or cannot
remember not following the
correct procedures. Zaks calls
this the “time-bomb effect”,
which is often further compli-
cated by the “pointed-index
syndrome” — hardware and
software suppliers who are
unable to discover the cause
end up pointing an accusing
finger at each other.
The user is left with no
remedy and, worse, not know-
ing how to prevent a recur-
rence. Zaks claims that by fol-
lowing the procedures in this
book many problems can be
avoided or reduced.
Many computer users will be
aware of some of the Dos and
Don’ts of handling equipment
through experience or com-
mon sense. However, there are
many causes of loss or damage
to data or equipment which are
not common knowledge, and
most such pitfalls are covered
in this book.
Such a thorough and
detailed explanation of tech-
nical problems could become
dull and boring reading, but
Zaks has managed to present
his book in a clear and interest-
ing manner. The text is sens-
ible, no-nonsense stuff and is
interspersed with amusing car-
toons to reinforce the points
being made. Each section con-
tains examples of what can go
wrong in the form of typical
horror stories, which serve to
further illustrate the need for
care.
Apart from describing typi-
cal problems, Don't provides
useful information on the pro-
per procedures for handling,
storage and siting of equip-
ment, provision of a clean
power supply and some advice
on helping to prevent com-
puter fraud. Despite being an
American publication, much
of the information is directly
transferable to the British
user, with the exception of the
wire coding and power-supply
voltage information.
Conclusions
• Essential reading for the new
business and education user.
• A useful reference book for
computer-studies teachers.
Michael Trott
More TRS-80 Basic —
A Self-Teaching
Guide
By Inman , Zamora and
Albrecht. Published by Wiley.
THIS BOOK continues where
the author’s previous book
TRS-80 left off and adopts the
same format. As the title sug-
gests, it assumes some familia-
rity with Basic programming.
Although prior knowledge
is assumed, an extensive intro-
duction reviews the level II
Basic instructions that were
covered by the previous book.
In addition there is a glossary
of frequently-used terms, and
guidance on using the book to
gain maximum benefit from it.
The text then moves steadily
through the structure of the
memory, how it is utilised by
the machine itself, and how it
may be modified by the pro-
grams using Peek and Poke.
After a brief summary and a
self-test quiz with answers, the
book continues logically with a
chapter about graphics. This
provides a comprehensive
guide to the topic, including
comparison of the speed of dif-
ferent techniques — important
for moving displays.
The next four chapters cover
files both on cassette and disc.
These chapters are thorough
— although they may be a little
slow for some people — but for
the readers that this book is
aimed at it is probably the best
approach for avoiding misun-
derstanding. These chapters
are far more comprehensive
than most of the general intro-
ductions to Basic provide, and
as a result the reader of this
book should rapidly become
able to make effective use of
files for data storage.
The rest of the book is
mainly concerned with more
detailed aspects of earlier
topics, especially graphics, but
there is a chapter on sound and
music production using
optional hard- and software.
There is a useful section which
explains the storage require-
ments of various data types
and precisions, invaluable
when trying to squeeze a large
program into a small machine.
Surprisingly, arithmetic
functions are not discussed
until the penultimate chapter.
However, the descriptions are
clear and easily understood.
There is a first-class index
which many books of this type
lack.
Conclusions
• A very friendly book that a
TRS-80 user with limited
experience will find useful. All
explanations are both com-
prehensive and clearly written
so misunderstandings should
be rare.
• A more experienced reader
will find valuable information
in this book but may well be
irritated by its slow' pace.
• Elementary programming
skills are assumed, and are
required to make the most of
the book, but the level needed is
not high.
Martin Wilson Q
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
147
INNOVATIVE
TRS 80-GENIE SOFTWARE
from the professionals
new, simple
‘-to use, moderately
priced word processor
The introduction of a brand new word processor is a major event and AJEDIT is without doubt a major
program. There are, however, quite a few Word Processors around and most of them are extremely good
ones - why, therefore, another? The question is even more pertinent when it is Known that we specifically
commissioned the writing of it from an author of the status of Denville Longhurst of Enhanced Basic fame. The
answer is that user feedback shows that a large number of customers do not need or want word processor
programs which require a quantity of training before use. Scripsit, for instance, is an excellent program, but is
complex to use; it even comes with a training course on tape. If one operator is dedicated to using the word
processor then it makes sense to have her trained, and the more complex the program (so long as the complexity is
accompanied by more and bigger functions) the better.
AJEDIT has been written for the user who needs a word processor intermittently, say three or four times
a week. Its prime design criteria was ease of use - and just as importantly - ease of recollection of its commands.
Take, for instance, the text editing commands - they are as close to the Basic Edit commands as possible, so that
the user will remember them: To insert type I, to delete D, to takeout three letters type 3D and so on.
Furthermore, AJEDIT has benefited from being written after a number of other word processors. The
deficiencies in its predecessors are corrected in AJEDIT. For instance, any control characters can be outputted so
that full advantage can be taken of the features of the particular pnnter being used. Disk directory access is
available from within AJEDIT as is the killing of files on the disk. The FREE command and a number of other DOS
commands can be carried out from within the program with a return to AJEDIT - with its text intact.
AJEDIT contains close to one hundred commands covering most word processor requirements. Dedicated
printer commands for the Epson MX series and the Centronics 737 are included - again for ease of use of these two
popular printers.
One of the big features of AjEDIT is the ability to “mail-merge". The facility is available whereby two
special files are created, one containing names and addresses and a salutation, the other a standard letter or form.
AJEDIT will call the address and salutation from one file and the letter from the other and thereby compile
personalised letters. The salutation may be repeated in the body of the letter.
AJEDIT needs 48K and one disk minimum and is suitable for the TRS-30 Models I and III and the Video
Genie Models I and II.
AJEDIT £49.95
Inclusiveof V.A.T. and P. & P.
MOLIMERX LTD
A J HARDING (MOLIMERX)
1 BUCKHURST ROAD, TOWN HALL SQUARE, BEXHILL-ON-SEA, EAST SUSSEX.
TEL: [0424] 220391/223636 TELEX 86736 SOTEX G
TRS-80 & VIDEO GENIE SOFTWARE CATALOGUE £1 .00 [refundable] plus 50p pcstage.
• Circle No. 188
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
NOW YOU HAVE AN
APPLE MICROCOMPUTER
YOU'LL NEED
OMNIS
All you've ever wished for in an
information management
system.
OMNIS sets new standards in database programs and levels of
performance that you never believed were possible on a
microcomputer.
) OMNIS is written in UCSD Pascal + , this
means a better structured, faster running
set of programs than could ever be possi-
ble using Basic — We believe that UCSD
Pascal 4 - is the best microcomputer
language available — OMNIS proves it —
) OMNIS is structured around powerful file
handling modules. These modules give
you the flexibility to store and retrieve
y our information in the way that you
want. Full multi-key indexed access is
available to all your database files, you say
what you want — OMNIS does the rest.
| OMNIS provides you with a versatile
report generating module that enables
you to define your own reports, lists, mail-
ing labels etc.
) OMNIS has unparalleled search facilities
to allow you to be selective. Those hours
of fruitless searching through rows of card
indexes becomes a thing of the past.
| OMNIS lets you design your own screen
layouts for data entry and inspection —
you may have up to 10 screens per file.
OMNIS has an application waiting for it in
every business, school and laboratory and
workshop. Wherever information needs to be
stored and retrieved. OMNIS is available for
both APPLE II and APPLE III. We can also sup-
ply OMNIS for use on APPLE microcomputer
networks (yes. with true multi-user record lock-
ing). Trade enquiries welcome.
All registered users of OMNIS will be sent FREE
BACKUP disc and you will be kept informed of
all updates and upgrades. Free help will be
given to all registered users via an OMNIS hot-
line
OMNIS — All you ever wanted
APPLE II* version - £1 74.00 (ind VAT & pp)
APPLE III* version - £225.75 (ind VAT & pp)
✓
•trademarks of APPLE Computed Iru
♦ trademark of the Rerjents of the
University of California
San Diepo
W w tk omt Vcro
Registered Trade Mark
BLYTH COMPUTERS LIMITED
Wenhaston, Halesworth, Suffolk
IP 1 9 9DH
£2 050 270 565
24 hour phone service .
fy
/xrjfil*
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
• Circle No. 187
145
A visit to Microsystems '82 is a unique
opportunity to examine and discuss a
completely comprehensive range ot
microprocessors, peripherals, memory
products and small business systems, together
with software programs and products.
As a user, specifier or buyer of
microelectronic products, Microsystems ’82 is
an important date in your diary.
Admission to the exhibition is by business
registration and costs just £1 .00 at the door.
West Centre Hotel
Lillie Road, London
SW6
VISIT
WORTH YOUR
WHILE
Wednesday, February 24: 9.30 — 6.00
Thursday, February 25: 9.30 - 6.00
Friday, February 26: 9.30 — 6.00
For more information, telephone or write to:
The Exhibition Manager, Microsystems '82,
IPC Exhibitions Ltd, Surrey House, 1 Throwley Way,
Sutton, Surrey. SMI 4QQ. Tel: 01 643 8040
MARK YOUR DIARY NOW!
144
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
Pet corner
Screen print program.
100 printchr$(147):printtab(20)"Screen print for 8032 & ASCII printer"
110 print : print : printtab(25 ) "by M. I. Constantine 20/10/81"
120 for i=63^ to 760 :read j :poke i,j :next
130 sys634:print:print:printtab(25)"press shift & esc to print"
140 print: print :printtab( 30 )"sys 634 to enable"
150 print: print :printtab(23)"sys 750 to disable before load"
160 pokel 51,1 55 :poke1 52,1
200 data 120,169,2,133,145,169,133
210 data 133,144,88,96,165,151,201
220 data 155,208,96, 165,152,201 , 1
230 data 208,90,169,128,133,32,169
240 data 0,133,31,169,4,133,176
250 data 133,212,32,213 ,240,32,72
260 data 241,169,25,133,33,169,13
270 data 32,210,255,169,10,32,210
280 data 255,32,210,255,160,0,177
290 data 31,41,127,208,4,105,64
300 data 16,6,201,32,16,2,105
310 data 96,32,210,255,200, 192,80
320 data 144,232,165,31,105,79,133
330 data 31,144,2,230,32,198,33
340 data 208,203,169,13,32,210,255
350 data 169,12,32,210,255,32,204
360 data 255,76,85,228,120,169,228
370 data 133,145,169,85,133,144,88
380 data 96
Machine code.
027 A 78 SEI
027 B A9 02 LDA £$02
027D 85 91 STA $91
027F A9 85 LDA £$85
0281 85 90 STA $90
0283 58 CLI
0284 60 RTS
0285 A5 97 LDA $97
0287 C9 9B CMP £$9B
0289 DO 60 BNE $02EB
028B A5 98 LDA $98
02 8D C9 01 CMP £$01
028F DO 5A BNE $02EB
0291 A9 80 LDA £$80
0293 85 20 STA $20
0295 A9 00 LDA £$00
0297 85 IF STA $1F
0299 A9 04 LDA £$04
029B 85 BO STA $B0
029D 85 D4 STA $D4
029F 20 D5 FO JSR $F0D5
Hex dump.
027 A
78
A9
02
85
91
A9
85
85
0282
90
58
60
A5
97
C9
9B
DO
028A
60
A5
98
C9
01
DO
5A
A9
0292
80
85
20
A9
00
85
IF
A9
029A
04
85
B0
85
D4
20
D5
F0
02A2
20
48
FI
A9
19
85
21
A9
02AA
0D
20
D2
FF
A9
0A
20
D2
02B2
FF
20
D2
FF
A0
00
B1
IF
02 BA
29
7F
DO
04
69
40
10
06
02C2
C9
20
10
02
69
60
20
D2
02CA
FF
C8
CO
50
90
E8
A5
IF
02D2
69
4F
85
IF
90
02
E6
20
02DA
C6
21
DO
CB
A9
0D
20
D2
02E2
FF
A9
OC
20
D2
FF
20
CC
02 EA
FF
4C
55
E4
78
A9
E4
85
02F2
91
A9
55
85
90
58
60
43
JSR $F148
02D0 A5 IF
LDA $1F
LDA £$19
02D2 69 4F
ADC £$4F
STA $21
02D4 85 IF
STA $1F
LDA £$0D
02D6 90 02
BCC $02DA
JSR $FFD2
02D8 E6 20
INC $20
LDA £$0A
02DA C6 21
DEC $21
JSR $FFD2
02DC DO CB
BNE $02 A9
JSR $FFD2
02DE A9 0D
LDA £$0D
LDY £$00
02 E0 20 D2 FF
JSR $FFD2
LDA ($1F),Y
02E3 A9 0C
LDA £$0C
AND £$7F
02E5 20 D2 FF
JSR $FFD2
BNE $02 C2
02 E8 20 CC FF
JSR $FFCC
ADC £$40
02 EB 4C 55 E4
JMP $E455
BPL $02 C8
02EE 78
SEI
CMP £$20
02 EF A9 E4
LDA £$E4
BPL $02 C8
02F1 85 91
STA $91
ADC £$60
02F3 A9 55
LDA £$55
JSR $FFD2
02F5 85 90
STA $90
INY
02F7 58
CLI
CPY £$50
02F8 60
RTS
BCC $02 B8
02A2 20 48 FI
02A5 A9 19
02 A7 85 21
02A9 A9 OD
02 AB 20 D2 FF
02AE A9 OA
02B0 20 D2 FF
02B3 20 D2 FF
02 B6 AO 00
02B8 B1 IF
02BA 29 7F
02BC DO 04
02BE 69 40
02C0 10 06
02C2 C9 20
02C4 10 02
02C6 69 60
02C8 20 D2 FF
02CB C8
02CC CO 50
02CE 90 E8
Character call.
1 0 DAT ft 32 .• 2 10.. 214.. 1 62 .. 0 ,. 165 .. 17 , 76 . 72. 226
20 FOR J=826 TO 835 : READ X = POKE J,X-NEXT
30 POKE 0.. 76 : POKE 1.-58: POKE 2,3
(continued from page 141)
count looping back until the end of a line
is reached, and then checks that all the
lines have been printed by decrementing
the counter held in $21 and testing for
zero. The program loops back if there are
any lines left to print.
The next program section sends the
form-feed command, restores the screen
as the output device and continues the
interrupt. The final section is the routine
to reset the interrupt for in/out work.
This routine does not use the bi-direc-
tional printing facility available on the
Spinwriter. It would be an unnecessary
complication, and without it the routine
should be usable with most ASCII
printers linked to an 8032.
Character call
here is a short program which Pet users
should find useful, writes Paul Bradshaw
of Sunderland, Tyne and Wear. It Pokes a
short machine-code routine into the
second cassette buffer, which instantly
fills the screen with any character desired
by the user. The routine is called from
Basic by the USR function.
After typing in the routine, the com-
mand Run will install the machine code in
the second cassette buffer and set the
USR vector. Now, to fill the screen
instantly with the character whose Poke
code is X, use the instruction
Q = USR(X). For example, to fill the
screen with As, use the instruction
0 = USR(1), since 1 is the Poke code for
A.
The routine is useful for games pro-
grams, or any application where the pro-
gram has to attract the operator’s atten-
tion — e.g. industrial control.
Neat layout
1 think I CAN help W V Lcgge — Feed-
back, October 1981 — over his problem
with the Tab(X) function when output-
ting from the Pet to his 4022 printer,
writes Bruce Humphries of Epsom, Sur-
rey. As he explained, this function acts in
an identical manner to SPC(X), i.c. tabs
from the last printed character, not the
left-hand margin. A very simple way to
overcome the lack of a true Tab function
is to force a carriage return without line
feed after each printed string:
10 REM ** SIMPLE TABULATING ROUTINE
20 PR I NT#2 , SPC < X > ; AS ; CHR$ <141);
where A $ is the character or string to be
printed.
The problem with this method is that it
is very slow and results in undue wear to
the printer, particularly when plotting,
because of the large number of carriage
return/tab operations.
When formatting tables, I use a short
routine — listing 1 — to left-justify into
neat columns. The method works out the
length of the string just printed (AL),
subtracts it from the column width (WC),
and then prints that number of trailing
spaces — SP$ is a string of. say, 60 spaces.
If necessary, the routine can be easily
converted to print, say, dots instead of
spaces, which in some circumstances can
improve clarity.
The same idea can be used to right-
justify columns, .e.g., to align units, tens,
hundreds, etc., on integer numeric print-
out, by printing spaces before, instead of
after the string representation of the
number. To handle floating-point
numbers, however, requires a slightly
more complex technique — see listing 2.
In this routine, WC is the column
width, TT is the number of characters
from the left of the column to the decimal
point, and SP$ again is 60 spaces. All
these variables must be initially declared.
The routine aligns all decimal points,
handles integers and negative values, and
I have found it most useful when printing
multiple columns of figures. [[]
Layout — listing 1.
10 REM **PRINT ALPHA COLUMN
20 AL=LEN<AS> IFAL=>UCTHENA$=A$+LEFT$<SP$,WC-AL+1 ) : GOTO40
3© RS=LEFT*< A*, WO+LEFT*<SP*, 1 >
40 PRINT#2* A$;
Listing 2.
10 REM** PRINT DECIMAL COLUMN
20 A*=STRS<A>
30 A=INT(A) : LD=LEN<STR^<A)>-1
40 I FLD>=TTTHEN60
50 A$=LEFT$<SPS, TT-LIO+AS
60 A$=A$+LEFT $ < SPS > NC-LEN < A$ > + 1 )
76 PR I NT #2 , A* ;
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
143
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• Circle No. 185
Pet corner
Trace routine
JOHNATHANTurpin of Stanford-le-Hope in
Essex sends this trace routine for the Pet.
The machine code is loaded from Basic by
the loop in lines 100 to 130, and then
entered in line 150.
100 FOR I =54610668
110 READA
120 POKE I; A
120 NEXT I
140 P0KE11, 125 : P0KE12, 2
150 X=USR<X>
160 END
170 DATA 165, 126, 201, 255, 203, 1, 96, 169
180 DfiTfl 0, 122, 14, 96, 125, 197, 222, 240
190 DATA 26, 122, 222, 165, 126, 122, 222, 169
200 DATA 222, 205, 12, 222, 240, 251, 169, 60
210 DATA 22, 229, 168, 22, 90, 135, 169, 62
220 DATA 22, 229, 168, 165, 126, 197, 222, 208
220 DATA 228, 96, 72, 169, 99, 141, 24, 2
240 DATA 169, 2, 141, 25, 2, 104, 76, 116
250 DATA 162, 22, 186, 255, 201, 20, 240, 1
260 DATA 96, 152, 72, 169, 165, 172, 45, 2
270 DATA 141, 45, 2, 140, 110, 2, 104, 163
280 DATA 76, 99, 2, 160, 4, 135. 152, 2
290 DATA 152, 189, 0, 126, 208, 247, 169, 84
200 DATA 122, 1, 169, 2, 122, 2, 141, 25
210 DATA 2, 169, 99, 141, 24, 2, 96, 22
220 DATA 24,2,224
Note writer
MY program is called Note Writer, writes
Steve Skipp of Tyseley, Birmingham. It is
a short and simple Basic program
designed for those with disc and printer. It
gives a simple form of word processing —
in upper case only. You can write letters
and memos — but you cannot use a colon
or comma in your notes. These will ter-
minate the input line.
Each line of data must start with a one-
digit code which will be used to control
the printer, control the line spacing and to
mark the end of the data file. The follow-
ing codes are used:
0 for head of form
1 to space 1 line
2 to space 2 lines
3 to space 3 lines
4 to space 4 lines
• to mark end of file
" to print this line of data on the current print
line.
If you enter an up arrow as the first
character of a new line it will allow you to
go back one line so that you may amend it.
During the copy phase the following
keys are used:
Space bar — to pass the current line for
printing
- sign — to delete the current line
+ sign — to insert before the current line
Other keys — to amend the current line.
Improved screen print
PUBLISHED SCREEN-PRINT programs do
not always produce the desired result on
the system that I use, comments M I
Constantine of East Grinstead, West Sus-
sex. My system comprises a Commodore
8032 with 4040 discs and an NEC Spin-
writer with serial interface. 1 have
encountered the following problems:
• The control characters — Sys 0 or perhaps
@ P — are printed along with the screen
information.
• Programs using Basic 2 do not work with
Basic 4, which itself does not send a line feed
with file numbers of less than 128.
• Attempting to print graphic and reverse-
field characters on an ASCII-only printer pro-
duces strange results. For the purpose of
this program I have converted them to their
equivalent keyboard characters, and the
alternative character set is treated as if it
were the standard one.
• Some routines are located in the second
cassette buffer which is used on the 8032 for
disc in/out jobs.
• Printing is often crammed on to the first 25
lines of a sheet of paper and no “top of form”
command is given at the end of the print.
• Other Pet systems print only the top half of
the 8032 screen, splitting each screen line
into two print lines.
• Programs that redirect the interrupt do not
always provide a means of resetting it for
loading other programs.
My screen-print program gets round all
of these problems. It is presented in three
forms: as Basic loader; by disassembler;
and hex dump. Instructions for its use are
included in the Basic form which is
recommended for those not familiar with
machine code.
To use the routine from a Basic pro-
gram. load this one first and run it fol-
lowed by Sys 750. Then load the Basic
program, which should implement Sys
634, and then Poke 151,155: Poke 152.1
for each time a screen print is required.
The disassembler listing shows how the
program works. It has six sections. The
first section, from $027 A to $0284,
changes the course of the interrupt
through the “decision" section which
checks that the Escape and Shift keys are
both depressed, and jumps to the exit
point if not.
The printing routine follows, and can
be split into three parts; $0291 to $Q2A8
sets up the screen-start address and line
counter into zero-page locations. The
second part does most of the work con-
verting the screen codes to ASCII and
sending them to the printer. This part is
located between $02A9 and $02CA. The
third part of the printing section which
ends at $02DB, increments the screen-
( continued on page 143)
Note Writer
2 REM *###*#####**###*##############
3 REM S. SKIPP NOTE WRITER
4 REM ***##****###*#*#«*»##****«#***
5 REM (C) COPYRIGHT 1981
6 REM *####*#######*##*#*##*#****###
8 OPEN 15» 8i 15
10 F$="
15 DIM A* (500)
20 GS=FS+F*
30 INPUT-COPY OR NEW (C/N) "rJS
32 IFJS="N"THEN50
36 Y=0
38 INPUT "FILE NAME : ";BS
40 OPEN 2,8,2, "0: "+BS+" , S,R"
42 INPUT£15,EAS,EBS: IFEAS<>"00"THENPRINT"FILE NOT THERE" :
44 Y=Y+1: INPUT£2, JS
45 G0SUB600
46 A*(Y)=«J*
47 IFLEFTSLJS, 1)="*"THEN49
48 G0TO44
49 CLOSE 2:GOT0300
50 PR I NT 'W
70 Z=0: Y=0
80 F0RZ=0TO5O0:AS(Z NEXT
110 Y=Y+1
120 PRINTG$"Cr«Cr«"
130 INPUT". Cr Ifc |Cr | " J J$
140 IFLEFTSGJS, 1 )=". "THEN190
141 I FLEFT S < JS, 1 ) = " 1 "THEN 1 90
142 1FLEFT*(JS, 1 )=" 2"THEN190
143 IFLEFTS(JS, 1 )="3"THEN190
144 IFLEFT*(JS, 1 > ="4"THEN190
145 IFLEFT$( J$i 1 )="0"THEN190
146 IFLEFTS (JS, 1 ) =*" # " THEN AS < Y) = J* : G0TG300
148 IFLEFTS (JS, 1 )=" A "THENY=Y- 1 : PPINTAS (Y) : G0TO130
14? PRINT "ERROR- TRY AGAIN": GOTO 120
190 A*(Y)=JS
200 G0T0110
300 INPUT"D0 YOU WANT TO PRINT (YES OR NO) :";JS
302 IFJ$="N0" OR J$-"N"THEN450
306 PRINT "HIT ANY KEY FOR PRINTER"
308 GETJS: IFJ$=""THEN308
310 OPEN 4,4
312 CMD4
320 F0RZ=1 TOY
330 I FLEFT* < AS( Z) , 1 ) = "0" THENPR I NTCHPS ( 12) : G0T0400
332 IFLEFTS(AS(Z) , 1) = ". "THEN398
334 I FLEFT S ( AS ( Z ) , 1)="1" THEN396
336 IFLEFTS(A$(Z), 1 ) ="2"THEN394
333 IFLEFTS(AS( Z) , 1 )="3"THEN3?2
340 I FLEFT* (A* ( Z ) i 1 ) ="4"THEN390
342 IFLEFT*(A*(Z), 1 ) ="#" THENZ=Y; GOT0400
390 PRINT
392 PRINT
394 PRINT
396 PRINT
397 GOT0400
398 PRINTMID*( A*(Z) ,2,78)
400 NEXT
410 PRINT£4:CL0SE 4
420 PR I NT" RUN COMPLETED"
450 INPUT "SAVE ON DISC ?? (Y/N) ";J*
452 IFJ*="N" OR J*="N0"THEN END
454 INPUT "NAME OF FILE : "fJS
456 OPEN 3, 8, 3, "®0: "+JS+" , S, W"
453 F0RX=1T0Y:PRINT£3, A* ( X) ; CHRSC 13) ;
460 NEXT : PRINT£3, "*#*#"?CHRS<13) J
462 CLOSE 3
470 PR I NT "COPY OVER. "
472 END
600 J*=LEFT * ( JS+GS, 78)
605 PR I NT " » > " J* " < < < "
610 GETA*: IFAS=" "THEN610
619 IFA$=" "THENRETURN
620 IFAS="- "THEN625
621 IFA*O" + "THEN630
622 K*= J* : J*=Gt : G0SUB630
623 A* < Y ) = J*: Y=Y+ 1 : JS=KS : G0T0600
625 Y=Y- 1 : JS=AS( Y) : GOT0600
630 PR I NT J*: INPUT":,™,** I c T I " ; A*
640 IFLEFTS (AS, 1 ) = ". "THEN680
641 IFLEFT*(Ai, 1)=" 1 "THEN680
642 IFLEFTS ( AS, 1 )="2" THEN680
643 IFLEFTS(A*» 1 )="3"THEN680
644 IFLEFTS(AS, 1 )="4"THEN680
645 IFLEFTS( AS, 1 ) ="0"THEN680
646 IFLEFTS (AS, 1)="*"THEN680
650 PR I NT" TRY AGAIN" : G0TO630
680 JS=AS: RETURN
A • Circle No. 184
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
141
The Consummate
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Holdene Ltd- Manuel Comarcho. Microcomputer Systems. Manchester Unity House. 11-12 Rampart Street, Leeds LS6 2NU Tel 0532459459
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David Hollis. Municipal Buildings. Charles Street, LeicesterTel: 0533 22255
Healey Office Equipment Ltd Alby Healey. Unit 7 Westfield Industrial Estate. Portsmouth Road. Horndean, Hants Tel: 0705 597555
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Omega Electric LtdFlaxley Mill. Flaxley Road. MitcheldeneGloucestershire Tel 0452 76532
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• Circle No. 183
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PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
• Circle No. 181
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Apple Pie
CMDTBL:
Table 3.
0860- 98 EF A6 AM 06 95
0868- 00 EB 93 A7 C6 99
0870- F 3 9A AO 00 00 00
0878- 00 00 00 00 00 00
05 FO ; ?
9C 9E ; G
00 00 ; Z
00 00 ;
+ M < L W
• cr sp # %
V
R
i »
.rest of table empty
(continued from page 133)
on the screen, and also to set any other
vectors which may require attention. The
monitor has been written to run on page
$08 and so if it is used in conjunction with
Basic the Lomem vector will need to be
raised by such a routine.
Listing 2 shows the main part of the
monitor. CMDNUM is the number of
commands in the command table and will
require alteration if new commands are to
be added. This routine makes much use of
subroutines in the Autostart ROM.
The end of the routine jumps into the
ROM, to finish the XToSub routine. This
jumps to the subroutine whose address
has just been pushed on to the stack by
executing an RTS instruction.
The short section of code in listing 3
handles a break request, displaying the
address of the break instruction, and the
state of the registers at that time. When
the 6502 executes a BRK instruction, it
pushes the Program Counter + 2 on to
the stack, so before displaying the pro-
gram counter, this routine subtracts 2
from it. The original monitor simply dis-
plays the program counter as it is.
Table 3 shows the command charac-
ters, including the ASCII values of the
command letter, XORed with $BO, and
added to $89. This is just as in the original
monitor’s command table.
Table 4 contains the low-order byte of
the address of the subroutine to be called
by each command, with 1 subtracted from
it. The high-order byte is $08.
As an example, if the ? command is
used, the monitor searches the CMDTBL
until it finds the value $98, in the first
location of the table. Note that it searches
the table from the last character up to the
first.
It looks in the corresponding position
in the XSUBTBL. finding the value $9F.
Adding one gives $AO. so it then jumps
to location $8AO, from where it jumps to
the register-display routine REGZ.
In the original monitor, all the com-
mand subroutines arc in ROM on page
$FE. Obviously, any user-defined com-
mands must be included in RAM, and
thus will be on a different page. This new
monitor overcomes the problem by jump-
ing to a location on page $08, where there
may be a short piece of code or a jump to a
routine anywhere in memory. This
routine may then read any parameters
passed to it from page zero.
Table 4.
XSUBTBL: 0880- 9F A2 A5 A5 A8 AB AE B1
0888- B4 B7 A5 A5 BA C2 C5 C8
0890- CB CE D1 00 00 00 00 00
0898- 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
To add new commands to the monitor
do the following
• Choose a non-hexadecimal character as the
command character. You are not restricted
to letters: any symbol may be employed
provided it is not already in use.
• Exclusive-Or the ASCII code for this
character with $B0, and then add $89 to it.
• Place this result at the end of the CMDTBL,
at location $873 for table 3.
• In the corresponding position in the
XSUBTBL, place the low-order byte of an
address on page $08 — 1. This address
should be the next available on page $08
after the table of JMP commands, at location
$8D5 for the program listed here.
• At this address on page $08 add a JMP
instruction to your own machine-code sub-
routine, which must end in RTS.
• Add 1 to CMDNUM. This is used at only one
point in the monitor, at location $82E.
A similar procedure may be adopted in
reverse to delete commands from the
monitor. The commands to write to a
Teletype and to call a mini-assembler have
been included as examples and may be
deleted if you wish. The directions given
assume that the monitor is on page $08.
Use a different page if it has been moved
elsewhere.
I have not included all the original
monitor commands in the program, since
a number of them are only rarely used. It
is a simple matter to add them. In particu-
lar, the CTRL-Y function has been made
redundant, since user-defined commands
can easily be added to the monitor.
Listing 4.
080A- 4C
BF
FE
JMP
REGZ
? display registers
08A3- »IC
36
FE
JMP
VFY
V verify
08A6- 4C
18
FE
JMP
SETMODE
- + : .
08A9- 4C
2C
FE
JMP
MOVE
M
08AC- HC
20
FE
JMP
LT
<
08AF- HC
5E
FE
JMP
LIST
L
08B2- HC
CD
FE
JMP
WRTTE
W
08B5- 4C
B6
FE
JMP
GO
G call user subroutine
08B8- HC
FD
FE
JMP
READ
R
08BB- 20
00
FE
JSR
BL1
cr end of command line
08BE- 68
PLA
08BF- 68
PLA
08CO- 40
IE
08
JMP
XMONZ
goto monitor
08C3- 4C
04
FE
JMP
BL^NK
sp
08 C 6 - nc
6B
09
JMP
SETTTY
// all output to teletype
08C9- MC
74
09
JMP
SETSCRN
% all output to screen
08CC- nc
00
10
JMP
ASSEMBLE
Z call mini-assembler
08CF- 4C
07
10
JMP
ASSEMBLE 1
! assemble one line only
08D2- 4C
8E
FD
JMP
CROUT
' issue carriage return
Pie chart.
10
TEXT : HOME
20
VTAB 13: INPUT "ENTER DATE (DD/MM/YY)";D$
30
IF LEN (D$) < 8 OR LEN (D$) > 8 THEN PRINT
RUN
40
FOR I = 1 TO 8
50
POKE 1+767, ASC ( MID$ (D$,I,1))
60
NEXT
70
ONERR GOTO 1370
80
TEXT : HOME
90
INVERSE
100
TEXT : HOME : INVERSE
110
PRINT "$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$"
120
PRINT "$
$"
130
PRINT "$ PIE CHARTS
$”
140
PRINT "$
$"
150
PRINT "$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$"
(listing continued
on next page)
Pie charts
THIS APPLESOFT program from Adam
Broun of Bicester, Oxfordshire, draws pie
charts. It runs on the Apple 11+ machine.
At the start, the date must be Inputted
using two digits to each section, e.g., 05/
09/81. It is Poked into memory to avoid
D$ being cleared if a mistake is made
typing in data.
The options given on the main menu
are as follows:
• Draw chart with paddle. A line is displayed
inside a circle which can be moved round
using a game paddle. The paddle button
fills in the circle anticlockwise from the
bottom.
• Compute and draw. Type in the number of
sectors required followed by the percent-
age and name for each sector. When all
(continued on next page)
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
135
kw^ ]
SUPtRPET
COMp^ r
Available this month
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Using Waterloo microSoftware
F. D. Boswell, T. R. Grove, K. I. McPhee, J. B. Schuelerand
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System Overview
This introduction to the Commodore SuperPET personal computing
system provides an overview of the hardware and of the Waterloo
microSoftware packages.
£4.15 672-21903-4
P. H. Dirksen and J. W. Welch
Waterloo microFORTRAN
Tutorial and Reference Manual
Waterloo microFORTRAN is a dialect of FORTRAN designed for use in
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many features of Waterloo microFORTRAN step by step, placing
emphasis on the detection and diagnosis of errors.
£7.65 672-21904-2
F. D. Boswell, T. R. Grove and J. W. Welch
Waterloo microPascal
Tutorial and Reference Manual
The Tutorial gives a quick introduction to Pascal while the Reference
Manual providesa concise definition of the language. Waterloo micro-
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by Waterloo microEdit — a full-screen text editor.
£7.65 672-21905-0
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Waterloo 6809 Assembler
Tutorial and Reference Manual
£7.65 672-21908-5 March
J. C. Wilson and T. A. Wilkinson
Waterloo MicroAPL
Tutorial and Reference Manual
£6.95 672-21907-7 April
Prices and publication datesarecorrectatthe timeof going topress but
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134
• Circle No. 180
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
Apple Pie
10310
PRINT CD*; "0PEN"T*" , Dl"
10320
PRINT CD*; "READ"T*
1 0330
FOR I = 0 TO 43; FOR J = 0 TO 10; INPUT T*(I,J)
1 0335
SO = PEEK (SO)
10340
NEXT ; IF A = 0 THEN VTAB 3; PRINT "LAST DATE ENTERED
WAS"; SPC<
1 ) T* (0, 1 ) ; PRINT ; PRINT "LAST INVOICE NO WAS"; SPC ( 5)T*(0,3); PRINT
; PRINT "NO OF CUSTOMERS ON FILE"; SPC ( 1>T*(0,4);
VTAB
1 1
10350
IF I > 31 THEN VTAB I - 22; PRINT MID* (X*,(I
- 32)
* 9 + 1,9) ;
" ” $ T* < 1 , 1 > 5 SPC< 7 - LEN (T* < 1 , 2) ) ) T* ( 1 , 2) ; SPC (
) ) ) T* ( I , 3) ; SPC< 7 - LEN ( T* ( I , 4 ) ) ) T* ( I , 4 )
7 -
LEN (T* ( I , 3
10370
NEXT
1 0375
PRINT CD*; "CLOSE"; SO = PEEK <SF>
Speeding execution.
Speeding execution
speed OF ACCESS to information on a disc
is sometimes limited by the speed at
which the computer can process the
incoming data, observes John Pennell of
Bunwell. Norwich. If this processing
results in the drive motor being switched
off and then on again, a further reduction
in speed occurs.
The drive motor can be kept running by
Peeking the address 49385 and switched
off by Peeking 49384. This can result in a
time saving of 30 percent. For example
this piece of coding takes 15.6 seconds to
execute with the drive running, but 18.4
seconds if the drive is switching on and
off.
Step and Trace
the apple ii microcomputer has a very
powerful machine-code monitor, with
commands to execute programs one
instruction at a time, writes John Robson
of Cambridge. It is very useful for debug-
ging machine-code programs.
The Apple II + contains the Autostart
ROM, which does not have these debug-
ging facilities. This ROM has many
advantages, however, including automa-
tic disc bootstrap on power-up, and auto-
matically jumping into Applesoft Basic if
no discs are connected. T his makes the
Apple II + a very friendly machine for the
Basic user, but less helpful to machine-
code programmers.
This program was written in order to
add machine-code Step and Trace com-
mands to the Autostart ROM monitor,
but it was quickly realised that any
number of new commands could easily be
added. The present program allows 32
new commands to be defined.
In order to create new commands, it is
necessary to understand how the original
monitor works. I recommend chapter 3
of the Apple II Reference Manual, and the
machine-code listings at the back of that
manual.
A monitor command consists of a
number of hexadecimal addresses as
parameters, separated by various delim-
iters, followed by a single non-hex cha-
racter — except < and. — which specifies the
required command. Up to three para-
meters can be passed to a command, and
examples of their use are given in table 1 .
In operation, the monitor scans a com-
mand line, storing all the parameters it
finds on page zero. When it finds a non-
hexadecimal character, it searches two
tables to find the address of the machine-
code subroutine which will carry out the
requested command. It then calls this
subroutine, which reads the parameters
from page zero. These are always stored
in the same locations, regardless of the
command — see table 2.
As usual with the 6502 processor, the
low-order byte of the two-byte address is
stored first. If more than four digits are
typed as a parameter, the monitor takes
the last four as the actual parameter to be
used.
The piece of code in listing 1 is exe-
cuted only once, and sets the soft-entry vector
so that pressing the Reset key will cause a
return to the new monitor. It also sets the
break vector so that executing a BRK
instruction will cause a jump to the break-
handling routine. This code runs straight
into the monitor, so that the command
080l)G will set the necessary vectors and
transfer control to the monitor.
Space has been left to call a subroutine
XTitlc which may be used to print a title
(continued on page 135)
Table 1.
Number of
parameters
Command Format
Example
0
{char}
i
1
{param-1 } {char}
800G
2
{param-1} . {param-2} {char}
800.8FFW
3
Table 2.
{param-3} < {param-1} . {param-2} {char}
2000 <1600 . 167FM
Parameter
Name in Apple II
Low-order
High-order
reference manual
byte address
byte address
1
AIL and A1H
$3C
$3D
2
A2L and A2H
$3E
$3F
3
A4L and A4H
$42
$43
Listing 2.
081A- D8
XM0N: CLD
must use hex mode
081 B- 20
3A
FF
JSR
BELL
081E- A9
BE
XM0NZ : LDA
//$BE
’>’ prompt character
0820- 85
33
STA
PROMPT
0822- 20
67
FD
JSR
GETLNZ ;
read a line
0825- 20
C7
FF
JSR
ZM0DE ;
clear monitor mode
0828- 20
A7
FF
NEXTITM : JSR
GETNUM ;
get item, return with non-
082B- 84
34
STY
YSAV ;
hex char, in accumulator
082D- AO
13
LDY
//CMDNUM ;
no. of commands in table
082F- 88
CMDSRCH: DEY
0830- 30
E8
BMI
XM0N
if command not found
0832- D9
60
08
CMP
CMDTBL, Y ;
find command char in table
0835- DO
F8
BNE
CMDSRCH
0837- 20
3F
08
JSR
XTOSliB ;
found, call its subroutine
083A- A 4
34
LDY
YSAV
083C- 4C
28
08
JMP
NEXTTTM
083F- A9
08
XT0SUB: LDA
//PAGE ;
push high order subroutine
0341- 48
PHA
»
address on stack
0342- 89
80
08
LDA
XSUBTBL, Y
; push low order address on
0845- 4C
C4
FF
JMP
FINISH ;
stack, finish in ROM. **
Listing 1.
Listing 3.
0800- A 9 1A
LDA
/>$1A
0848- A5 3A
XBREAK:
LDA
PCL
; subtract 2 from program
0802- 8D F2 01
STA
S0FTEV
set soft entry vector
084A- DO 02
BNE
DEC1
; counter after a BRK ,
0805- A 9 08
LDA
/*PAGE
to start of monitor
084C- C6 3B
DEC
PCH
; to give exact address of
0807- 8D F3 01
STA
SOFTEV +1
( = $081 A )
084E- C6 3A
DEC1:
DEC
PCL
; break request.
030A- 20 6F FB
JSR
SETPWREC
0850- DO 02
BNE
DEC2
080D- A 9 *J8
LDA
WS
0852- C6 3B
DEC
PCH
080F- 3D F0 01
STA
BRKV ;
set new break vector
0854- C6 3A
DEC 2:
DEC
PCL
0812- A9 03
LDA
//PAGE ;
( = $08HS )
0856- 20 82 F8
JSR
INSDS1
; print user program counter
08in- 3D FI 01
STA
BRKV -*-1
0859- 20 DA FA
JSR
RGDSP1
; and registers.
0817- 20 3A FF
JSR
XTITLE ;
rings bell in this case
085C- 4C 1A 08
JMP
XM0N
; goto monitor
< 4 • Circle No. 179
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
133
THE RICOH 1 600S
If It's high performance you're
looking for, the Ricoh 1600S Is for you,
offering an amazing 60 characters In
fust 1 second. An updated version of
the trled-and-tested 1600, thenev/S
model has been re-designed and fitted
with all sorts of extras. Yet one thing
hasn't changed — the price, making
the 1600S cheaper than any equivalent
model on the market. This superb
performer Incorporates the 180 micro-
processor, auto bidirectional printing
and look-ahead logic, Increasing speed
and efficiency. Other capabilities
Include proportional spacing, graph
plotting and word processing enhance-
ments. The printer Includes a standard
centronics Interface, and RS232 and
IEEE options are available.
The Ricoh 1600S Is available only
from Mlcroput e and their authorised
dealers, all backed up with a nation-
wide service network. If you're
Interested In the 1600S either as a
customer or as a dealer, send the
coupon now.
"Picture shows 1600s fitted with tractor feed option"
tend me detoilt on ihc Ricoh 1600$
jNome
j Po»i iron
I Company
J Addntt
Tel No -
l RICOH 1 600S THE PERFORMANCE HAS V
I RISEN - THE PRICE HASN’T l
FEATURES COMPETITORS
DIABLO
630
QUME
SPRINT 5
SPIN-
WRITER
RICOH
RP. 1600
(10 DATA)
RICOH
RP.1600S
PRINT SPEED
(CPS)
40
45/55
55
60
60
PRINT ELEMENT
DAISY-
WHEEL
DAISY-
WHEEL
THIMBLE
DOUBLE
DAISY-
WHEEL
DOUBLE
DAISY-
WHEEL
AUTO
BIDIRECTIONAL
Yes
No
No
No
Yes
AUTO LOGIC
SEEKING
Yes
No
Yes
No
Yes
PROPORTIONAL
PRINT
CAPABILITY
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
EXTENDED
CHARACTER SET
No
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
LETTER QUALITY
PRINT
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
CUSTOM INTER-
FACE OPTION
No
No
No
No
Yes
PRICE
£1675
£1950
£1950
£1450
£ 1450
The above information was gathered from distributors and
abstracted from their current literature. Prices shown ore those
advertised at the present time.
Catherine Street, Macclesfield, Cheshire.
SK11 6QY. Tel: Macclesfield 612759
miCRDPUTE
microcomputer systems
The DA\ Personal Computer is l
•High Performance
♦High l/alue*
a. sC* ''O
Standard Features
24k Resident High-Speed Basic
16 Colour High-Resolution Graphics (255 x 335)
Scrolling Screen Editor
Sound Commands for Music Generation
Very High Speed Hardware Maths Option
Resident Monitor for Machine Language Programming
3 Programmable Parallel Ports
Standard TV Interface via Aerial Socket
RS232 Serial Port and Dual Cassette Interfaces
Manufactured by:
DAI
THE
/VICROCOV1PUTER
ENGINEERING
COtHP/lNY
Brussels, Belgium.
Available from:
Data Applications [Llh] Ltd
Personal Computer Division
16b Dyer Street
Cirencester
Gloucestershire
GL7 2PF /
Tel: Cirencester / N
(0285)61902 / oG
/
S
A
• Circle No. 178
OMMMMflH
A MEMBER OF THE IBR ELECTRONICS GROUP.
IBR
MICROCOMPUTERS
Suttons Industrial Park, London Road, Earley, Reading.
Tel: 0734 664111. Telex: 848215.
• Circle No. 177
O
Eight colour graphics, ten programmable function
keys, a full qwerty keyboard with numeric key pad,
alternative graphic and character sets, and superb editing
facilities including definable scroll area.
Now at last you can have all the features you want
in one expandable system with memory from 32K up to
1 90K for user application and prototyping facilities for
industrial and scientific use.
As well as powerful N-Basic by Microsoft,* full CPM
compatibility gives access to a large library of software
including Wordstar and compilers for Fortran, Pascal,
Cobol and Basic 80 languages.
N-Basic packages are already available for sales,
purchase and nominal ledgers, invoicing, stock control,
payroll, information retrieval and word processing.
And when you considerthe cost/performance ratio,
NEC is even further ahead.
The NEC PC8000 Personal Computer is available
through your local dealer now.
Complete the coupon or call the distributor
IBR Microcomputers on Reading (0734) 664111 forthe
name of your nearest dealer.
* Microsoft is a trade mark
Come to one of our
\ Free xl
^ Introductory ^
Seminars
at our Training
• Centre in Andover.
...now on SUPERBRAIN
TABS unique business software is a flexible package
designed to maximise business efficiency and profitability.
TABS is also ” ' Each of 13 modules
may be run individually or together. Modules include:
Sales Ledger, Purchase Ledger, Sales Order Processing,
Invoice Compiler, Fast Data Entry, Nominal Ledger,
Management Accounts, Job Costing, Payroll, Bill of
Materials, Stock Control, Word Processor, Mail List.
The system is ly : - iz ~.~zte so that updated
information on one module automatically updates
information on a related module e.g. items entered on the
Sales Ledger would deplete Stock Control.
Each module is ' ' enabling end users
to adapt each module to suit their unique accounting
requirements.
The TABS system is It bridges the gap
between micro and mini computers facilitating expansion
from the single user system to the multi user system on
SYSTIME and D.E.C.
Finally, TABS is The modular system
currently running on PET, Apple and Superbrain will
shortly be available on most CPM microcomputers.
We would, however, like to add a word of caution to
the end user. Naturally a package as flexible as this is a
sophisticated product and although simple to operate we
strongly advise professional help either from your Dealer
or from TABS during its installation.
6502 Special
Listing 1 —
accumuiator/Y register exchange.
3000 08
PHP
Save Status Reyister
3001 48
PHR
Save Rccumu lator
3002 98
TVR
>
3003 48
PHR
>Save Y Reyister
3004 8fl
TXR
>
3005 48
PHR
>Sa'v*e X Register
3006 68
PLR
>
3007 68
PLR
) Increment stack pointer by 3
3008 68
PLR
)
3009 88
TRY
Store old accumulator contents in V
300fi BR
TSX
)
300B Cfi
BEX
>
300C CR
DEX
) Becrement stack Pointer by 3
300D CR
HEX
)
300E 9R
TXS
>
300F 68
PLR
>
3010 AA
TRX
) Retrieve contents ot X Reyister
3011 68
PLR
> Store old V rey. contents in Accumulator
3012 28
PLP
> Increment stack Pointer
3013 28
PLP
> Restore status register-
3014 60
RTS
Listing 2 —
X and Y
register exchange.
3000 08
PHP
Save status reyister
3001 48
PHR
Save Rccumu lator
3002 98
TVR
>
3003 48
PHR
> Save V Reyister
3004 8R
TXR
>
3005 48
PHR
>Save X Register
3006 68
PLR
)_
3007 R8
TRY
>Save old X Rey. contents in Y Rey.
3008 68
PLR
)Save old V Rey. contents in X Rey.
3009 RR
TRX
>
300R 68
PLR
Retr i eve Rccumu lator .
300B 28
PLP
Restore status Register
300C 60
RTS
Listing 3 —
accumulator/X register exchange.
3000 08
PHP
Save status reyister
3001 48
PHR
Save Rccumu lator
3002 8fi
TXR
)
3003 48
PHR
)Save X Reyister
3004 68
PLR
>
3005 68
3006 BR
PLR
TSX
.)Get old Accumulator contents into Accumulator
3007 CR
BEX
>
3008 CR
BEX
) Becrement stack Poiter by 2
3009 9R
TXS
)
300R RR
TRX
Store old Accumulator contents into X Reyister
300B 68
PLR
Store old X reyister contents in Accumulator.
300C 28
PLP
Increment stack Pointer
300D 28
PLP
Restore status reyister
300E 60
RTS
(continued from previous page)
then the variable is listed again with its new
subscript.
Line 63095 is where the additions to the string
array begin to take place, using a third-level
loop. The built-up string P$ is compared with
existing strings in the array, and if there is a.
match, only the line number is added to the
array. If there is no match, then P$ and its
line number are added to the end of the
array. Variable T holds the number of strings
actually in the array, and is used at the end
as part of the printing routine.
Lines 63110 and 63125 note the condition of
the string-space pointers. When a string is
added to the array, these pointers are
adjusted downward automatically. S and Y
hold these values and allow the string-build-
ing routine to overwrite its previous results,
thus avoiding the garbage-collection bug
problem. The values are reset by line 63130
whenever the outer loop creeps along.
Lines 63155 onwards do the printing. My
printer is driven from the RS-232 serial port,
and is set internally for 4,800baud. This rate
is achieved by resetting the ACIA control
register — address 61440 — by Poking a 3
into it, then following that by 16. This alters
the clock-division rate in the ACIA chip so
that the normal divide-by-16 count is altered
to divide-by-one. If your printer is configured
otherwise, then the Pokes to 61440 can all
be dropped. The Poke to address 15 in line
63155 sets the terminal width, allowing the
printer to cover most of the page while leav-
ing some margin.
CHRS(12) in line 63170 is the Epson’s form-
feed code. The rest of the line switches off
the Save flag, sets the terminal width to
normal and restores the ACIA chip to normal
300baud operation.
To print to screen only, lines from 63155 could
read:
63155 POKE1 1,0: POKE 12,253
63160 FORK=OTOT: IFASC (A$(K)) =
34ANDYS < “P"THEN63170
63165 PRINT: PRINTA$(K): IFK/4=
INT(K/4) THENX = USR(X)
63170 NEXTK
Register exchange
while working through a program I
found I required a subroutine which
exchanged the contents of the accumul-
ator with the Y register, without affecting
the contents of other registers or memory
locations, writes Andy Scott of Chapel-
en-le-Frith, Cheshire. The program I
came up with can be used on any 6502
machine — see listing 1.
Similar programs exchange the X and
Y registers — listing 2 — and the X
register with the accumulator — listing 3.
The stack is used for the various manip-
ulations, as well as the X,Y register,
stack pointer and the accumulator. After
each subroutine the stack pointer and
status registers resume their original
states. The stack pointer is incremented
by using the instructions PLA or PLP.
OK not OK
ON THE SUPERBOARD, the usual Save:List
command for saving programs on tape
terminates with the OK message, writes
J Pike of Bedford. This gives an annoying
syntax-error message on reload.
The OK message can be suppressed
with Poke 4,108, but it would be better to
be able to terminate the save with a user-
specified message such as Poke
5 15,0: Run, to turn off the load and run
the program. A Basic program to achieve
this appeared in the May 1981 6502
Special, but a much neater and more
permanent solution is given by a 17-byte
machine-code patch based on Steve
Purdy’s List solution — 6502 Special
February 1981. This short patch enables
SAVE.LIST:? “Message”:? "Message"
to print messages after the program.
The flexibility of the system is demon-
strated bv a simple file-handling tech-
nique using the messages
POKE 515,255 AND^PEEK^ISJ-f 1)
and New, when
LOAD:LOAD:LOAD
for example, will load the third program
from the tape.
The patch also allows List to be used in
a program without terminating execution.
Like Clear, however. List cannot be used
within For loops or subroutines because it
corrupts the stack. I have been unable to
understand these stack changes however,
perhaps someone more familiar with
operation of the stack could unravel them
and circumvent this limitation. □ |
• Circle No. 176^
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
OK-suppression and message patch.
REM Start Address ot patch (user specified)
IiHTR 32, 108, 168, 160,0, 177, 195,201,58,240,3, 76 . 108 -
168,76, 194, 165
FOR 1 = L TO L + 16: READ p : POKE I, p: NEXT
POKE 4, L AND 255 'POKE 5,L/256
10
20
30
128
Character retrieval
one OF the most annoying faults on the
Superboard/Challenger is the loss of
characters that occurs to the left and right
of the screen, writes N A Cannon of
Redhill, Surrey. The loss to the right is
easily corrected by limiting the terminal
width, but loss of characters to the left
requires a machine-code program to cor-
rect. My routine resides in the spare page
2 space, $0222 to 02F0, and overcomes
the problem.
The first — 0222 to 0230 — section is
the main program. To activate it, the
output vector should be changed to point
to the routine, which could be done by
Poking the vector 538 and 539 decimal.
This means Poking after every warm
start, and a better method is to have the
vector automatically reset after every
warm start, which is w-hat the second sec-
tion is for. All that is needed is to set the
warm start vector — 000 1 and 0002 — to
point to the second section, 0233, via the
monitor, or Poke 1,51 : Poke 2,2.
You should turn off the routine when
saving programs, otherwise it inserts
spaces at the start of every line. It can be
turned off by changing the warm start
back via the monitor — point it at A274
— or by Poke 1,116 : Poke 2,162.
Data check
THE CHECK-SUM loader 0700 to 07FF at
the beginning of the UK 101 extended
monitor can be saved and used for other
check-sum loading, writes Douglas Fyffe
of Sutton, Surrey. Enter at .0705 G — or,
if relocated, .1705 G.
Note that some of the bits are
incremented during use and may corrupt
the main program unless a correct start is
Character retrieval.
0222
PHFl
48
0223
LBA 0200
AD
00
02
0226
CMP#65
C9
65
0228
BNE 05
D0
05
022fl
LDft#20
A9
20
022C
JSR FF69
20
69
FF
022F
PLfl
68
0230
JMP FF69
4C
69
FF
0233
LI)A#22
fl9
22
0235
STfl 021 ft
8D
1ft
02
0238
LDA#02
A9
02
023FI
STfl 02 IB
8D
IB
02
023D
JMP A274
4C
74
A2
made. Before use, the contents of the
following addresses should be checked,
and corrected if necessary. The original
and (in brackets) relocated addresses are
0702 (1702) 00
0703 (1703) 80
0704 (1704) 00
073B (173B) 05
073C (173C) 10
A check-sum loader stored in RAM
should not be used a second time without
checking and correcting these addresses.
String list routine
varlist is a utility in Basic for UK 101 or
Superboard that lists which variables and
strings occur in a program and where
these appear, writes Mitch Park of Have-
lock North, New Zealand. It can be useful
for analysing programs and finding vari-
ables which might be reusable. Varlist
does not give values for variables because
it examines only Basic text or source code
and does not consult the variable tables.
In any case, Varlist destroys previous
variable tables the instant it starts to run.
The program gives the choice of listing
any strings that appear in the source code.
However, it ignores Rems, whether
strings are wanted or not. It then allows
Varlist.
63000 CLEAR: F*RINTCHR$ (26) : K=0: J=0: 1=0: S=1 : Y=0
63005 PRINT: INPUT" IGNORE STRINGS IN TEXT";Y*
63010 INPUT" START LINE NO. OR ’ AUTO" " ; P$: P=771 : A=P: E=49999
630 1 5 IFP$=LEFT$ ( " AUTO " , LEN ( P* > ) THEN63030
63020 S=VAL(F'$) : INPUT" END LINE NO. ":E: IFE<STHEN63020
63025 G0SUB63135: P=A: IFL<STHENA=N: G0T063025
63030 G0SUB63135: M=M+1 : IFL<ETHENA=N: G0T063030
63035 PRINTCHR* (26) :DIMA*(M) : A=P: A* (O) =CHR* (34) +"
63040 S=PEEK < 129) : Y=PEEK (130)
63045 G0SUB63 1 35 : PR I NTL : I FL >E- 1 THENPR I NT " COMPLETE ": G0T063 1 55
63050 FORI =A+2T0N-3: P=PEEK ( I ) :H=(P=34) : I FHAND Y $ > " P " THEN630B5
63055 I FP= 1 42THENA=N : G0T063045
63060 P*=CHR‘MP) : I FH=OAND ( P< 650RP >127) THEN63 1 30
63065 FOR J =1 + 1 TON-3 : P=PEEK ( J ) : IFP=00RP=34THEN63095
63070 I FHANDP >3 1 ANDP< 1 2BTHEN63080
63075 IFP<48ANDP< >36ANDP< >400RP>57ANDP 650RP. 127THEN63095
63080 P$=P*+CHRf. <P) : NEXTJ : G0T0631 25
63085 FORJ= I + 1 TON -3: P=F’EEK ( J ) : IFP=00RP=34THEN63125
63090 NEXTJ
63095 FORK=OTOM: I FK=MQRLEN < A$ <K> ) >250THEN631 45
63100 IFLEFT* (At <K) , LEN(P*) ) =P*THEN631 1 5
63105 IFA$ (K) =" "THENAR (K) =P$+" " +STR$ ( L ) : T=T+ 1 : K=M+ 1
63110 NEXTK: S=PEEK ( 129) : Y=PEEK ( 130) : GOT 063 125
63115 IFRIGHT*(A*(K) ,LEN(STR*(L> ) ) =STR* (L) THEN63125
63120 A$ (K) =A$ (K) +STR$ (L)
63 125 I = J : S=PEEK (129): Y=PEEK < 1 30 )
63 1 30 POKE 1 29 , S : POKE 1 30 , Y : NEXT I J A=N : G0T063045
63135 N=PEEK (A- 1 ) *256+PEEK <A-2)+2
63140 L=PEEK ( A+l ) *256+PEEK (A) : RETURN
63145 PRINT" OM ERROR IN"L
63150 PRINT" CHANGE ’ M=’ IN 63030 OR LIST SHORTER SECTIONS"
6315^ SAVE: S=6 1440: POKE 15, 75: POKES, 3: POKES, 16
631 60 FORK*- ( Y* > " P " ) TOT : PR 1 NT : PR I NTA* ( K ) : NE X TK
63 1 65 PR I NTCHR* (12): POKES 17,0: POKE 15,72: POKES , 3 : POKES , 1 7
■6502 Special—
the choice of listing between selected line
numbers, or in Auto mode, up to line
49999 — a common End line number.
It works by stepping through the source
code line by line and adding new variables
to a string array. The line numbers only
are added to the appropriate string when
a variable, or string, is encountered for
the second and subsequent times. Only
one occurrence is listed per line, no mat-
ter how many times the variable appears
in that line. The string-array / garbage-
collection bug is sidestepped, so the pro-
gram will work on quite large subject
programs.
Varlist is meant to bow out gracefully il
there are too many variables or if a vari-
able occurs so often that it exceeds the
permitted string-length limit.
1 use Varlist to drive an Epson MX-80
printer at 4,800baud. but the output sec-
tion may be modified to print to screen or
to whatever printer you use.
Line 63000 clears the variable tables, clears
the screen and initialises some variables to
gain some speed. CHR$(26) is the dear-
screen command for Cegmon.
Line 63005 commences input and is not idiot-
proofed, since the prompt calls for a Yes/No
answer. Y$ is used as a flag later on.
Line 63010 prompts for starting line number
and sets up some more variables. P is used
at this stage to hold the start-of-text address
but later changes its function.
Line 63015 demonstrates a technique to allow
recognition of input even if it is abbreviated.
There are several ways of doing the same
thing.
Line 63020 asks for the end-line number and is
goof-proofed to require a higher number.
Line 63025 searches for the starting line
number and its address in RAM. P is used
here to hold that address.
Line 63030 steps through the program to the
selected final line to count the number of
lines, held in M. The program allows for one
new variable per line, which may be over-
generous.
Line 63035 dimensions a string array to the
value of M and creates a first string of blanks.
The purpose here is to avoid listing short
space-strings as the leading blanks of other
strings.
Line 63040 changes the function of S to hold,
with Y, the value of the bottom of string-
space.
Line 63045 is where the fun really starts. The
program steps through each line character
by character, discarding values outside the
desired range. The line number L is printed
to screen as a reassurance that the program
is actually doing something. P is now used to
hold the contents of each address being
inspected. It is tested for the Rem token,
142, for the double-quote mark, 34, and for
validity as a variable-name or string cha-
racter. Should P be a Rem then the rest of
the line is ignored; if P is a quote then a string
is built up until either another quote or the
end-of-line marker is reached. If P is valid as
a variable-name character, then the outer
loop counter keeps a ‘‘finger in the page"
and a second-level counter, J, builds up the
string until it encounters invalid characters.
As a result, subscribed variables are listed
with the first index, and if the index changes,
(continued on next page)
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
127
Tandy forum:
(continued from previous page )
7D69 5E
00820
LD E,<HL>
7D6A 7B
00830
LD A,E
7D6B CD6402
00840
CALL UBYTE
7D6E 23
0085O
INC HL
7D6F 56
00860
LD D><HL
7D70 82
00870
ADD A-D
7D71 4F
00880
LD C.A
7D72 7A
00890
LD AD
7D73 CD6402
00900
CALL WBYTE
7D76 1A
00910 WPDATA LD A.CDE)
7D77 CD6402
00920
CALL WBYTE
7D7A 81
00930
ADD A.C
7D7B 4F
00940
LD C/ A
7D7C 13
00950
INC DE
7D7D 10F7
00968
DJNZ WPDATA
7D7F 79
00970
LD A.C
7D80 CD6402
00980
CALL WBYTE
7D83 Cl
00990 ENDWP
POP BC
7D84 EDA1
01000
CPI
7D86 C5
01010
PUSH BC
7D87 EA597D
01020
JP PE.WRHEAB
7D8A 3EFF
01030
LD A.0FFH
7D8C CD6402
01040
CALL WBYTE
7D8F CDF801
01050
CALL 01F8H
7D92 Cl
01060
POP BC
7D93 El
01070
POP HL
7D94 C39A0A
01030
JP 0A9AH
7D97 CD6402
01090 WNULL
CALL WBYTE
7D9A 23
01108
INC HL
7D9B 23
01110
INC HL
7D9C C3837D
0112O
JP ENBUR
7D9F 01C17E
0113O WRERR
LD BC.MUPEPR
7DA2 CD6F7E
01140
CALL PRINT
7DA5 El
01150
POP HL
7DA6 C39A0A
01160
JP 0A9AH
7DA9 CD7F0A
0117O READ
CALL 0A7FH
7DAC 019A7E
01180
LD BC.MREADY
7DAF CD6F7E
01190
CALL PRINT
7DB2 CD4S0O
0120O
CALL 4?H
7DB5 2B
0121O
DEC HL
7D36 2B
01220
DEC HL
7DB7 4E
01230
LD C.'HL)
7DB8 23
01240
INC HL
7DB9 46
01250
LD B.fHL>
7DBA 23
01260
INC HL
7DBB C5
0127O
PUSH BC
7DBC RF
01280
XOR A
7DBD CD 1202
01290
CALL 0212H
7DC0 CD9602
01300
CALL PSYNC
7DC3 CD3502
01310
CALL RBYTE
7DC6 FE43
01320
CP 48H
7DC9 C2597E
0133O
JP N2.CERR
7DCB CD3502
0134O
CALL RBYTE
7DCE 47
01350
LD B.A
7DCF CD3502
01360
CALL RBYTE
7DD2 CD7C7E
0137O
CALL DISP
7DD5 10F8
01380
DJNZ *-6
7DD7 CD3502
01390
CALL PBYTE
7D0A 5F
01400
LD E.A
7DDB E5
01410
PUSH HL
7DDC 2RD640
O1420
LD HL,'40D6H>
7DDF CD3502
01430
CALL RBYTE
7DE2 57
0144O
LD D.A
7DE3 B7
01450
OP A
7DE4 ED52
01460
SBC HL.DE
7DE6 EB
0147O
EX DE.HL
7DE7 2AA840
01480
LD HL • < 40A0H >
7DEA B7
01490
OR A
7DEB ED52
01500
SBC HL.DE
7DED El
01510
POP HL
7DEE F2497E
01520
JP P.STRSP
7DF1 ED53O640
01530
LD (40D6HVDE
7DF3 13
01540
INC DE
7DF6 CD3302
0155O RHEAD
CALL RBYTE
7DF9 FE3C
01560
CP 3CH
7DFB C2597E
01570
JP NZ.CERR
7DFE CD3502
0158O
CALL RBYTE
7E01 FE00
01590
CP O
7E03 CA417E
01600
JP Z.RNULL
7E06 47
01610
LD B.A
7E07 78
01628
LD <-HL>.B
7E08 23
01630
INC HL
7E09 CD3502
01640
CALL RBYTE
7E0C 73
01650
LD <HL)»E
7E0D 23
O1660
INC HL
7E0E 4F
0167O
LD C.A
7E0F CD3502
01680
CALL PBYTE
7E12 72
01690
LD (HL->/Q
7E13 81
0170O
ADD A.C
7E14 4F
0171O
LD C.A
7E15 CD3502
01720 RDATA
CALL RBYTE
7E18 12
01730
LD 'DE>.A
7E19 81
01740
ADD A.C
7E1A 4F
01750
LD C.A
7E1B 13
01760
INC DE
7E1C 10F7
01770
DJNZ RDATA
7E1E CD3502
01780
CALL RBYTE
7E21 B9
01790
CP c
7E22 C2347E
01800
JP NZ.CHKSM
7E25 Cl
0181O ENDRD
POP BC
7E26 EDfll
01820
CPI
7E28 C5
01838
PUSH BC
7E29 EAF67D
0184O
JP PE, RHEAD
7E2C D5
01850
PUSH DE
7E2D El
0186O
POP HL
7E2E CDF801
01870
CALL 01F8H
7E31 Cl
01880
POP BC
7E32 3E0D
O1890
LD A.0DH
7E34 CD7C7E
01900
CALL DISP
7E37 ED5BD640 01910
LD DE,< 40D6H )
7E3B B7
01920
OR A
LOAD DE WITH ADDRESS
OF DATA
AMD WRITE TO TAPE
.COMPUTE CHECKSUM
•WRITE CHECKSUM
; WRITE DATA
IF MOT END OF TABLE
OF ADDRESSES
LOOP BACK TO HEADER
; SWITCH OFF CASSETTE
•RETURN TO BASIC PROGRAM
•STORE ARRAY ADDRESS IN HL
•WAIT FOR KEY DEPRESSION
•LOAD DIMENSION
;OF APPAY
(SWITCH ON CASSETTE
•READ LABEL
.AND DISPLAY
•ON VIDEO
•TOP OF UNUSED STRING SPACE
(SUBTRACT NUMBER OF CHARACTERS
(TO BE LOADED
•BOTTEM OF STRING SPACE
•NEW POINTER
READ HEADER
SWITCH OFF CASSETTE
7E3C ED52
O1930
SBC
HL.DE
7E3E C39A0A
01940
JP
0A9AH
7E41 77
01950 PNULL
LD
(HL).A
7E42 23
01960
INC
HL
7E43 77
01970
LD
(HD.A
7E44 23
01980
INC
HL
7E45 77
01990
LD
<HL)A
7E46 C3257E
0200O
JP
ENDRD
7E49 01A97E
0201O STPSP
LD
BC . MSTRSP
7E4C 2AD640
02020
LD
HL,<40D6H^
7E4F B7
02030
OR
A
7E50 ED52
02043
SBC
HL.DE
7E52 180C
02050
JR
>♦14
7E54 018B7E
O2060 CHKSM
LD
BC, MCHKSM
7E57 1807
02070
JR
$+9
7E59 FEFF
0208O CERR
CP
0FFH
7E5B 280B
02O90
JR
Z,*+13
7E5D O1807E
0210O
LD
BC , MCEPP
7E60 3E0D
02110
LD
A.ODH
7E62 CD7C7E
02120
CALL DISP
7E65 CD6F7E
02130
CALL PRINT
7E68 CDF801
0214O
CALL 01F3H
7E6B Cl
02150
POP
BC
7E6C C39A0A
02160
JP
0A9AH
7E6F OR
02170 PRINT
LD
A, (BO
7E70 E67F
82180
AND
7FH
7E72 CD7C7E
02190
CALL
DISP
7E75 0A
02208
LD
A'BO
7E76 CB7F
02210
BIT
7, A
7E78 C0
02220
RET
HZ
7E79 03
02230
INC
BC
7E7A 18F3
02240
JR
PRINT
7E7C CD3300
02250 DISP
CALL 33H
7E7F C9
02260
RET
7E80 52
02270 MCERR
DEFM
•READ ERROR'
7E81 45
7E82 41
7E83 44
7E84 20
7E85 45
7E86 52
7E87 52
7E88 4F
7E89 52
7E9A 8D
02288
DEFB SDH
7E8B 43
02290 MCHKSM
DEFM
'CHECKSUM EP
•RETURN TO BASIC PROG
SWITCH OFF CASSETTE
.RETURN TO BASIC PROG
PRINT MES
•ON VIDEO
'AGE
7E8C 4?
7E8D 45
7ESE 43
7E3F 4B
7E90 53
7E?1 55
7E92 4D
7E93 20
7E94 45
7E95 52
7E96 52
7E97 4F
7E98 52
7E99 8D
7E9A 52
7E9B 45
7E9C 41
7E9D 44
7E9E 59
7E9F 20
7EA0 43
7EA1 41
7EA2 53
7EA3 53
7EA4 45
7EA5 54
7EA6 54
7EA7 45
7EA8 8D
7EA9 4E
7EPA 4F
7EAB 54
7EAC 20
7EAD 45
7EAE 4E
7EAF 4F
7EB0 55
7EB1 47
7EB2 48
7EB3 20
7EB4 53
7EB5 54
7EB6 52
7EB7 4?
7EB8 4E
7EB9 47
7EBA 20
7EBB 53
7EBC 50
7EBD 41
7EBE 43
7EPF 45
7EC0 8D
7EC1 4E
7EC2 4F
7EC3 20
7EC4 48
7EC5 45
7EC6 41
7EC7 44
7EC8 45
7EC9 52
7ECA 8D
7D00
02300
02310 MPEADY
DEFB SDH
DEFM 'READY
CASSETTE'
02320
02330 MSTRSP
DEFB SDH
DEFM 'NOT ENOUGH STRING SPACE'
02340
02350 MWRERR
DEFB 8DH
DEFM 'NO HEADER'
02360
02370
80000 TOTAL ERRORS
DEFB 8DH
END LOAD
a
126
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
Tandy forum
Single-key save
saving STRING arrays on cassette is a
long and tedious business since the Basic
Print# command can only be used to save
255 characters at a time, notes Kevin
Upson of London N8. For each command
the machine turns on the drive, writes 255
sync bytes and then the data.
My machine-code subroutine for the
16K Video Genie will save the whole
array at one call in about one-quarter to
one-half of the time taken by Print#.
It writes a tape in a similar format to
system tapes with check-sum, but it also
stores the Basic pointers to the array.
On loading the tape, the program
checks that there is enough string space
available for the array before it over-
writes any store. It also displays element
zero of the array on the video so that this
element can be used to identify the array
being read from tape.
If the tape being read is not in the
correct format a read-error message will
be displayed on the video.
To use the subroutine, protect memory*
at 32000, load the machine-language
subroutine and key New to send then load
the basic program. To call the subroutine
from Basic use the statement:
USR(VARPTR(A$(0)))
where A$ is the name of the array to be
saved. Enter the subroutine at address
32003 for loading array, i.e. use
POKE 16526,3:POKE 16527,125
Numbers for use without editor-assembler.
195 25 26 195 169 125 205 127 10 229 1 154 126 205 111 126
205 73 0 43 43 78 35 70 35 175 190 202 159 125 197 95
87 134 35 35 48 1 20 237 161 234 33 125 95 193 225 213
197 229 213 175 205 13 2 205 135 2 62 72 205 100 2 70
120 205 100 2 35 94 35 86 26 205 100 2 19 16 249 209
225 123 205 100 2 122 205 100 2 62 60 205 100 2 70 175
1S4 202 151 125 120 205 100 2 35 94 123 205 100 2 35 36
130 79 122 205 100 2 26 205 100 2 129 79 19 16 247 121
205 100 2 193 237 161 197 234 39 125 62 255 205 100 2 205
243 1 193 225 195 154 10 205 100 2 35 35 195 131 125 1
193 126 205 111 126 225 195 154 10 205 127 10 1 154 126 205
111 126 205 73 0 43 43 73 35 70 35 197 175 205 13 2
205 150 2 205 53 2 254 72 194 39 126 205 53 2 71 205
53 2 205 124 126 16 243 205 53 2 95 229 42 214 64 205
53 2 87 183 237 32 235 42 160 64 183 237 82 225 242 73
126 237 83 214 64 19 205 53 2 254 60 194 89 126 205 53
2 254 0 202 65 126 71 112 35 205 53 2 115 35 79 205
53 2 114 129 79 205 53 2 18 129 79 19 16 247 205 53
2 1^5 194 84 126 193 237 161 197 234 246 125 213 225 205 248
1 193 62 13 205 124 126 237 31 214 64 183 237 82 195 154
1 C\ 119 35 119 35 119 195 37 126 1 169 126 42 214 64 133
237 82 24 12 1 139 126 24 7 254 255 40 11 1 128 126
62 19 205 124 126 205 111 126 205 248 1 193 195 154 10 10
230 127 205 124 126 10 203 127 192 3 24 243 205 51 0 201
32 69 65 63 32 69 32 82 79 32 141 67 72 69 67 75
33 85 77 32 69 82 32 79 82 141 82 69 65 68 89 32
67 65 83 83 69 34 34 69 141 73 79 34 32 69 78 79
85 71 72 32 83 34 32 73 78 71 32 83 80 65 67 69
141 73 79 32 72 69 65 63 69 82 141
Then enter at 32006 for writing array,
making sure A$(0) has at least one
character. After the promp “Ready Cas-
sette”, press any key except Break to start
loading or writing.
On completion, the program will return
the number of characters read or written.
A Dimension statement must precede a
call for a read as the subroutine only reads
the number of elements which have been
specified by it.
If the tape contains more elements they
will be ignored. The amount of string
space is checked assuming the whole tape
array is to be loaded. If the tape contains
fewer elements, the remaining elements
of the array will contain the same data as
they had before the call.
This Basic program illustrates the use of
the subroutine and can be used to test it.
The program reads data from the video
for an array A$, which it then displays and
writes to tape.
After the tape has been rewound it will
read the tape and store the data in B$.
Both A$ and B$ are displayed so they can
be compared.
10 CIERR1000=DIMR$<10>,B$<10>
20 FORI = 1TQ10 : INPUTR$< I VHEXT
30 INPUT "HERDER = "=R*<0>
32 REM
35 REM ***** WRITE TO TRPE *****
37 REM
40 POKE 16526/6= POKE 16527/125
50 B<SR<VRRPTR< fi$<0>>>
60 FORI=0TO10 PR.INTRSC 0 > = NEXT
70 PRINT"CHRRRCTERS WRITTEN = ";B
80 INPUT "PRESS ENTER FOR RERD"/ZS
82 REM
85 REM ***** RERD TRPE *****
87 REM
90 POKE 16526/3= POKE 16527,125
109 B<3R<VRRPTR< B*<0)>>
110 FQRI=0TQ10 = PRINTfl« I >/ " = ” , B$< I > = NEXT
120 PR I NT "STRING SPACE NEEDED = ";B
If you do not have an editor-assembler,
you should Poke the numbers listed into
addresses 32000 to 32458 to enter the
subroutine.
Machine-code subroutine.
00100 .STRING RRRflY TRPE CPEATE/L0RD
00110 ,
00120 ,
0235
O0130 PBYTE
EQU
0235H
-READ BYTE INTO R
0264
00140 MBYTE
EGU
0264H
•URITE BYTE IN R
0287
00150 WSYNC
E0U
0287H
•WRITE SYNC CHAPS
0296
00160 PSYNC
EQU
0296H
•PERD SYNC CHRPS
7D00
00170
0RG
7O00H
7000 C3191R
00180 LORO
JP
1R19H
; JUMP TO BASIC READY
7003 C3R970
00190
JP
PER0
7006 CD7F0R
00200 WRITE
CRLL 0R7FH
; STORE RPPRY RDDPESS IN HL
700? E5
00210
PUSH HL
7O0R 019R7E
00220
L0
BC-MREROY
7000 C06F7E
00230
CRLL PRINT
•DISPLAY MESSAGE
7010 CO4900
00240
CRLL
49H
•UAIT FOP KEY DEPRESSION
7013 2B
00250
DEC
HL
7014 2B
00260
DEC
HL
7015 4E
00270
LD
C,<*HL>
; LOAD DIMENSION
7016 23
00280
INC
HL
•OF ARRAY
7017 46
00290
L0
B.' HL)
7018 23
00300
INC
HL
7019 RF
00310
X0P
R
701R BE
00320
CP
<HL '
70 IB CR9F70
00330
JP
Z-UREPR
701E C5
00340
push ec
701F 5F
00350
LD
E.fl
7020 57
00360
L0
D.fl
7021 36
00370 CRLC
ROD
fl,(HL'>
CALCULATE TOTAL
7022 23
00330
INC
HL
•NUMBER OF
7023 23
00390
INC
HL
.CHARACTERS
7024 3001
00400
JR
NC »§■*■?•
, IN THE RRRRY
7026 14
00410
INC
0
7027 E0R1
00420
CPI
7029 ER2170
00430
JP
PE- CRLC
702C 5F
00440
LD
E,R
7020 Cl
00450
POP
BC
702E El
00460
POP HL
702F 05
00470
PUSH 0E
7030 C5
00430
PUSH BC
7031 E5
00490
PUSH HL
7032 05
00500
PUSH 0E
7033 RF
00510
X0R R
7034 CO 1202
00520
CALL 0212H
•SUITCH ON CASSETTE
7037 CO8702
0053O
CALL WSYNC
703R 3E4B
00540
LD R ■ 48H
7D3C CO6402
00550
CRLL MBYTE
703F 46
00560
L0 B.'HL'
; LENGTH OF FIRST ELEMENT
7040 73
00570
LD RB
7041 CO6402
00530
CRLL UBYTE
7044 23
00590
INC HL
7045 5E
00600
L0 E,'HL>
•LORD ADDRESS OF DATA
7046 23
00610
INC HL
•OF FIRST ELEMENT
7047 56
00620
L0 O.'HL)
7043 1A
00630 LABEL
L0 A.'DE)
•WRITE LABEL
7049 CO6402
00640
CRLL UBYTE
iFRQM FIRST ELEMENT
7D4C 13
00650
INC DE
7040 10F9
03660
DJNZ LABEL
7D4F 01
00670
POP 0E
7050 El
00630
POP HL
7051 7B
00690
LD A.E
•WRITE T0TRL
7052 CO6402
00700
CALL UBYTE
.NUMBER OF CHARS
7055 7R
00710
LD fl-D
7056 C06402
00720
CALL MBYTE
.WRITE HERDER
7059 3E3C
00730 WRHERD
L0 A.3CH
705B CO6402
00740
CALL UBYTE
705E 46
00750
L0 B.'HL)
7D5F RF
00760
X0R A
7060 B3
00770
CP B
. JUMP TO UNULL
7061 CR977D
00730
JP Z.UNIJLL
; IF LENGTH « ZERO
7064 78
00790
LD R-B
7D65 CO6402
08800
CALL UBYTE
7068 23
00810
INC HL
(continued on next page)
125
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
4* Circle No. 175
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version 3.0
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Apple Copy II Plus gives you the power to make back-up copies of nearly all the protected” software packages currently available Several thousand
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RELAX
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EXTREMELY VERSATILE
Version 3 0 of Copy II Plus is an advanced bit-
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UNIQUE
• Copy II Plus is the only bit-copier that
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FEATURES
• easy to use menu
• comprehensive instructions
• copy with 1 or 2 drives
• track-by-track copy program report
• copies half-track and irregular track
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• variable search parameters - for non-
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• "display" option shows data being copied
• "examine buffer” option helps identifica-
tion of protection system used
HOW TO GET YOUR COPY II PLUS
Copy II Plus needs 48K DOS 3 3. and at least
one disk drive
Send E45 00 + VAT to -
Apple Orchard Ltd
7a Church Lane
Loughton
Milton Keynes MK8 OAS
or Phone 0908 53595 and quote your
Access or Diners Club card to our 24-hour
answerphone
Please allow 7-14 days for delivery - or tell us
to rush if that's too long
• Circle No. 173
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■ FROM THE FOLLOWING DEALERS:
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• Circle No. 174
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mogcotor
I and 1
of the first in , „ '
Vlasa ^s spe^ athn °f
\
\ s °ftw are y
\ *UGU ST Ja?a y
MEGASTOR
installation
.AUGUST 1980/
\ Jm
MEGASTOR consists of two very reliable 8-inch BASF drives, an integral
power supply, and a controller card for Apple ][.
in addition, we are able to offer a range of specially-developed user
software - inventory, accounting, payroll, etc - to utilise MEGASTOR’s
large storage capacity.
Special software is available to convert Apple ][ DOS files to IBM 3741-
formatted EBCDIC-encoded files, and to read IBM-formatted files.
MEGASTOR offers the user 1.1 or 2.2 Megabytes of storage power per
dual-drive unit.
SOME OFTEN-ASKED QUESTIONS
Q: What drives?
A: BASF double-sided, double-density 8" drives.
Q: How do I copy programs from 5 Va " to 8" disks?
A: A utilities disk that provides a direct copy program for DOS 3.2 is
supplied. DOS 3.3 files are transferred using FID (on the Apple
System Master Disk). Pascal programs can be copied by using the
Pascal Autoboot utility (£75).
Q: Is MEGASTOR any faster than S 1 /.*" disks?
A: Yes. A program will operate faster on MEGASTOR than on mini-disks.
Q: Can I run mini-disks and MEGASTOR together?
A: Yes. The MEGASTOR can be used stand-alone, or in combination with
mini-disk drives.
MEGASTOR software available from VLASAK:
LEDGERS: fully-integrated, 1500 accounts, 6000 transactions/month,
Open-Item, or Balance-Brought-Forward.
INVOICING: User-configured to produce invoices, credit notes, delivery
notes, and picking notes. Automatically updates the Sales Ledger.
STOCK CONTROL (INVENTORY): 3000 to 6000 stock records on-line,
with an average access time of 1 second.
PAYROLL: 400 employees (200 weekly, 200 monthly). All tax & NI
contribution codes supported. 12 pre-tax payments, and 5 post-tax
adjustments available.
Vlasak \\\Lmr
Computer
Systems v
Vlasak House, Stuart Road, High Wycombe, Bucks HP13 6AG
Telephone: High Wycombe (0494) 448633
* Apple is a trade mark of Apple Computer Inc.
DISTRIBUTORSHIP AND OVERSEAS ENQUIRIES WELCOMED
ZX-80/81 Line-up
( continued from previous page)
which selects the atomic structure of any
element defined by its atomic number.
Since this program was written I have
transferred it to run on the Pet, which
allows it to be used for small classes. For
large classes the ZX-81 is better as it can
output a display to a large-screen tele-
vision.
The program has been used a number
of times and has many advantages over
previous systems. It also gives new and
exciting visual impact to a piece of work
usually dominated by the hard slog of
“chalk and talk” as well as a more immed-
iate means of teaching this important
subject.
ZX-80 clock
THE following short program shows
how simply the ZX-80 with 8K ROM can
be used to produce a satisfactory digital
clock, writes Robin Allott of Seaford,
East Sussex. The flicker is reduced by
making the clock time change only at 10-
second intervals .
The time is reset simply by inputting H
M and S at the appropriate values for the
current hours, minutes and seconds. If
you want to use the clock as a stopwatch,
the Pause at line 20 should be reduced to
49, and line 30 should be altered to
LETS = S + 1.
The program runs with IK RAM on the
ZX-80 or the ZX-81. To save use Goto
60.
1 LET H=0
2 LET M=0
3 LET S=0
A PRINT " 1 G I ThL CLOCK"
5 PRINT "*♦****#< TO RESET H M S) M
10 PRINT AT 9, 10;H; "M* ";S; "S##*"
20 PAUSE *490
21 POKE 16437/255
30 LET 3=$+10
4U IF S=60 THEN LET M=M+1
41 IF 3=60 THEN LET S=0
42 IF M=60 THEN LET H=H+1
43 IF M=60 THEN LET N=0
44 IF H> 1 2 THEN LET H=1
50 GOTO lO
60 SAVE "DIGITAL"
70 GOTO 1
Monitor interface
MANY HOME computers, and particularly
those at the less-expensive end of the
market, use the domestic TV set as a
display. This can lead to a certain amount
of conflict in the household during
“Crossroads” or “Match of the Day”.
David Sinclair of Copthorne, Sussex has
therefore devised a simple circuit to
enable him to use his ZX-8 1 with a cheap
TV monitor.
The main problem to be overcome is
the conversion of the high-impedance
video output of the Sinclair custom chip
to a 50-ohm impedance suitable for driv-
ing a standard monitor. This is achieved
with a conventional complementary
push-pull output stage driven by the usual
phase splitter.
The circuit can be built on Veroboard
or tagstrip and can be attached by double-
sided tape in the space under the ZX-81
keyboard. Current consumption is 10mA
which may be taken from the internal
ZX-81 5 V regulated rail. Convenient
take-off points are the channel-select tag
connected to pin UK-1 on the modulator
for 5V and the common printed-circuit
board foil connecting all three jack plug
connectors for 0V.
The circuit can supply enough output
current to drive up to four monitors
simultaneously, provided connecting
cable lengths are not too long, and this
feature could be useful in a classroom
teaching environment. Omitting the UHF
modulation and consequent demodula-
tion process in the domestic TV removes
the possibility of the video bandwidth of
the ZX-81 signal being accidentally
reduced. This set-up produced a slightly
sharper display on a £60 monitor than on
a £300 colour TV.
Energy management
THE PROGRAMS Electricity Manage-
ment and Gas Management will be most
useful to domestic owners of the ZX-81
with only 1 K RAM, writes B J F Reilly of
Leicester. You must number your last
nine quarterly bills chronologically from
1 to 9. To run the appropriate program,
enter the number of each bill and the
meter reading. As each successive set of
data is entered, a bar chart appears for
each of the eight quarters in turn, to-
gether with a listing of the quantity of
electricity or gas consumed in each
quarter.
In both programs the constant S in line
20 varies the vertical scale of the bar-
chart and should be about 1/35 of the
expected maximum number of units used
in a quarter.
In Gas Management, the constant
value of 1.027 in line 80 converts cubic
feet to therms. m
Electricity Management.
10
LET D = O
20
LET S = 20
30
PRINT HT 0,0.; "INPUT NO. OF
READING
N/L" , "AND ACTUAL
READING N/L"
40
INPUT ft
50
INPUT B
60
IF H = 1 THEN GOTO 130
70
LET C = Fl*2
80
LET E = B-I»
90
FOR N = 0 TO I NT E/S
100
PLOT C+2,N
110
NEXT N
120
PRINT AT C, 15; "UNITS IN Q. "
;a-ij "="
; E
130
LET D=B
140
GOTO 30
Gas Management.
10
LET B=0
20
LET 8=20
30
PRINT HT 0,0, "INPUT NO. OF
READING
N/L", "AND ACTUAL
READING N/L"
40
INPUT A
50
INPUT B
60
IF A=1 THEN GOTO 130
70
LET C=A*2
80
LET E=(B-IO#l . 027
90
FOR N=0 TO I NT E/S
100
PLOT C+2, N
110
NEXT N
120
PRINT AT C, 14; "THERMS IN
G. "A-l; "
= INT E
130
LET H=B
140
GOTO 30
120
• Circle No. 171 ►
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
ZX-8Q/81 Line-up
Atomic orbitals.
1 REM ATOMIC STRUCTURE 2X81
2 REM COPYRIGHT B.P. SMITH 1981
10 LET X$= " 3G93039G JG9DHKNNKH9ED962E
/; . 2EHLNQRT9FTTSNKHD99FJNPRUWTXW2/
+<»W>+/ , 1 4WWUSPM JT5XXT>$<$SSZ#0- "
20 LET Y$= 11 — 20-?$?-08763 > >#D5DAEADD
>, 36DB9752, FF- XE5722 FFDB974, C6-7
ES $> — > 57ACD-> #R57 1 C66 D77D C6T9-- 1
T
30 CLS
40 FOR V=1 TO 7
50 PRINT TAB 10; "ATOMIC STRUCTURE"
60 NEXT V
70 PRINT
80 PAUSE 250
81 POKE 16437,255
90 PRINT "THIS PROGRAM SLOWLY BUILDS
UP"
95 PRINT
100 PRINT "THE ATOMIC STRUCTURE OF ALL"
105 PRINT
110 PRINT "ATOMS FROM HYDROGEN TO
URANIUM"
115 PRINT
120 PRINT TAB 5; "PRESS KEY ""S"" TO
START"
123 PAUSE 1000
126 POKE 16437,255
130 IF I NKE V$<> " S " THEN GOTO 120
140 CLS
185 FOR X= 1 TO 92
190 PRINT AT 0,0;N$<X>
200 PRINT AT 2,3 - LEN < STR$ M<X));M<X:
210 PRINT AT 3,3;S»<X>
220 PRINT AT 4,3-LEN<STR$X>;X
310 PLOT CODE X$<X> , CODE Y$<X>
320 IF X=24 THEN PLOT 27,12
330 IF X=24 THEN UNPLOT 42,41
340 IF X=29 THEN PLOT 34,35
350 IF~X=29 THEN UNPLOT 42,41
360
IF
X=41
THE PLOT 54,10
370
IF
X=41
THEN
UNPL0T 43,43
380
IF
X-46
THEN
PLOT 34,2
390
IF
X=46
THEN
UNPL0T 37,43
400
IF
X=58
THEN
PLOT 27,5
410
IF
X=58
THEN
UNPL0T 60,22
420
IF
X=65
THEN
PLOT 19,30
430
IF
X=65
THEN
UNPL0T 60,22
440
IF
X=77
THEN
PLOT 42,0
450
IF
X=77
THEN
PLOT 37,0
460
IF
X=77
THEN
UNPL0T 57,40
470
IF
X=77
THEN
UNPL0T 61,34
480
IF
X=91
THEN
PLOT 25,3
490
IF
X=91
THEN
UNPL0T 12,22
500 PRINT AT 10, 17; M<X) - X; "N"
510 PRINT AT 11, 17; X; "P"
520 PAUSE 3000
521 POKE 16437,255
530 NEXT X
540 PAUSE 5000
541 POKE 16437,255
550 GOTO 1
5000 D I M S$ < 92 , 2 >
5010 DIM N$<92, 13)
5020 DIM M <92)
5030 PRINT AT 20,0; "NAME@@@@@@@@@ SY @
MASS-
5040 FOR X=1 TO 92
5050 INPUT N$ < X >
5060 PRINT N$<X),‘
5070 INPUT S$<X>
5080 PRINT S$ <X); "@";
5090 INPUT M <X>
5100 PRINT MOO
5110 SCROLL
5120 NEXT X
5130 STOP
5140 SAVE "ATOMIC STRUC"
5150 GOTO 1
Key underlining — graphics on key shown
@ — space
# — £
(continued from page 117)
its atomic number and atomic mass is as
follows 12 carbon, 1" calcium.
A periodic table provides all the rele-
vant information needed to determine
electron structure of each element. For
example, the subatomic structure for
■ 6 2 carbon is: Is 2 2s 2 2p 2 :6N:6P. For
HI calcium it is: Is 2 2s 2 2p 6 3s 2 3p f>
4s 2 :20N:20P. With information the
program can be designed.
The program was developed on a Sin-
clair ZX-80 with 8K Basic and 16K
RAM. It should be easily transferable to
other micro such as the TRS-80, Pet and
the Video Genie.
X$ and Y$ hold the co-ordinates for each
electron to be printed via the Plot instruc-
tion. Using strings allows the user to get
around the ZX-81's lack of Data and
Read statements. The co-ordinates are
obtained from X$ and Y$ by using the
Code statement which supplies the
numerical value of the characters address-
ed by the variable X from within X$ and
Y$, which are then used by the Plot
instruction.
Lines 190 to 220 print the name, sym-
bol, ' atomic mass, atomic number,
number of protons and the number of
neutrons in the same place so erasing the
previous output without the need to clear
the screen. Lines 320 to 490 deal with the
dropping down of electrons into their
lower orbits for chromium, copper,
niobium, palladium, cerium, terbium,
iridium and protactinium. This involves
unplotting an electron and repositioning
it to a lower orbit.
Lines 520 and 521 make the ZX-81
display the screen for 60 seconds;
pressing any key, except Break, allows
the user to move on to the next element.
Lines 5000 to 5 1 20 hold the input system
for the element’s name, symbol and
atomic mass, the atomic number is not
needed as it is supplied by X.
Lines 5140 and 5150 allows the pro-
gram to be saved in such a way that it will
run immediately after loading, this allows
the clement data entered not to be
cleared when the program is run, so that
they only need to be entered once.
The program is entered as shown in the
listing. Run 5000 is then entered, which
allows the element data to be entered in
ascending order. Atomic mass must be
whole numbers — you cannot have frac-
tions of a neutron. After this has been
completed Run and Clear must not be
used, otherwise the data entered will be
lost. The program is saved by entering
Goto 5140, which will save the program
plus the entered data. When loaded it will
run automatically without erasing the
entered data.
The program runs automatically and
waits for a set time at each element. After
all 92 have been displayed it will repeat
the program over and over again. To end
the program, press Break.
It is quite easy to amend the program to
suit the user's needs. I have a number of
variations of this program, such as one
(continued on next page)
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
119
The
Essential
Software Company
47 Brunswick Centre, London WC1N 1AF
miii
Finn
The newest and most exciting invaders
type game yet! Cruel and crafty aliens
attack Earth. You are the sole defender.
As you fire your laser at the aliens
they swoop down and bomb you.
Exciting use of graphics! Must be seen.
TRS80 Level I & II 16K Tape
Video Genie 16KTape
TRS 80 Levels I & II 16 K Tape
Video Genie 16 K Tape
The Newest and Most Astounding Arcade
Game that TALKS has just Reached Planet
Earth. You can't help yourself. You have to
stop them at all cost. Don’t let up. Written
especially for high quality graphics you’ll
simply be dazed and excited by theaction.
Attack Force
Dodge the alien'Ramships and fire
missiles to destroy them before they get
you. The alien Flagship uses his deadly
laser bolt to transform a Ramship into
another Flagship or into your ship's
double. Look out! Destroy your double
and you could destroy yourself.
TRS 80 Level I EHI16K Tape
Video Genie EG3003 16K Tape
Galaxy
Invasion
GOBBLE MA
Watch out behind you!
As you hurry through
the maze collecting
modules you score points.
Your fighter appears below a convoy of
Aliens! If you destroy them another set
appears who seem to be slightly cleverer
than before! Soon your space station
nears but before you can dock the station
comes under attack! Survival is up to you!
The excitement is just beginning!!
-r TRS 80 Levels I & II 16KTape
UOSmiC ■ IC|lYt©r Video Genie 16KTape
SuperNOVA
3-D means that as you wander
through the mazes and buildings,
full screen graphic display
constantly shows your position in a
perspective format as though you
were actually there! This “rat's
f eye" view adds an entirely new
dimension to adventure.
English language commands
can be entered at any time to
manipulate your environment.
The command sets are extensive and sophisticated. Dozens of objects
are scattered throughout the mazes and buildings. You can pick them
up, burn them, throw them, etc. You may need tne sword to fight off an
ugly little man. Or a steel rod to hold apart crushing walls. Deathmaze
5000 and Labyrinth allow the traditional one and two word commands.
Asylum incorporates our
Advanced Language Interpreter^
which allows full sentence input ^
But don’t letthe Gobblemen
\jjJ catch you. If you are crafty,
sneek up behind them and
neutralise them to gain extra points.
Just keep a watch. When they
attack you they come in fast.
Just don’t lose your nerve.
TRS 80 Levels I & II 16 K Tape
Video Genie 16 K Tape
Now the amazing ASTEROIDS arcade
game for your TRS 80! Your ship is
floating in the middle of an asteroid belt!
Your only escape is to destroy them and
the crafty alien spacecraft! Blast them with your
laser, thrust, rotate or hit hyperspace to survive!
All lapes
W
&
Deathmaze and Labyrinth
over 550 locations!
Asylum 1200
Si.
THE ESSENTIAL SOFTWARE COMPANY
(Viscounti Ltd.) 01-837 3154
47 Brunswick Centre, London WC1N 1AF
I have a microcomputer.
Please send me your software catalogue. I
enclose a stamped self addressed envelope.
( Please send me
I enclose a cheque/ postal order for £
(plus 50p post & packing)
Signature
Name .
My ACCESS No is .
• Circle No.
- _i
170
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
118
ZX-80/81 Line-up
Listing 1 — LN subroutine.
ROM tester
9000
REM LN SUBROUTINE
1
LET N=1
9010
IF X > 0 THEN GOTO 9040
2
LET A=0. 5/N
9020
PRINT "NEGATIVE OR ZERO ARGUMENT FOR LN"
3
LET B=LN<R)
9030
STOP
4
LET b=exp-;b>
9040
LET SM=0
10
PRINT fi.B
9050
LET fl=<X-l)AX+l>
20
LET N=N*2
9060
LET B=R*A
30
IF N> 131072 THEN GOTO 50
9070
LET LT=fi*B/3
40
GOTO 2
9080
LET SM=A+LT
50
STOP
9090
FOR 1=5 STEP 2
9100
LET LT=LT*<I-2VI
9110
LET SM=SM+LT
9120
IF ABS<LT) < 1.0E-9 THEN GOTO 9140
9130
NEXT I
9140
RETURN
Scrolling data
IF cont upsets you when your ZX-81
screen is full then this simple method will
produce scrolling data, writes R Hilditch
of Bo’ness, West Lothian.
By Peeking location 16422, the line
number of the print position can be deter-
mined. The top of the screen is line 24 and
the bottom line 3, leaving two spaces at
the bottom for editing. Hence if line 1 in
any program is Scroll, then thereafter a
simple,
IF PEEK (16422) <= 4 THEN SCROLL
will produce scrolling data from the bot-
tom.
As a demonstration try:
1 SCROLL
10 LET A$ = “123456789”
20 FOR X = 1 to LEN AS
30 PRINT A$ (X TO LEN A$)
40 IF PEEK (16442) < = 4 THEN SCROLL
50 NEXT X
60 GO TO 20
Defective-ROM routine
THIS SUBROUTINE was written to circum-
vent the LN, SQR and ** functions on the
ZX-81 keyboard and it may be helpful to
users who are waiting for Sinclair to pro-
vide a replacement for the defective 8K
ROM, explains R G Taylor of Ports-
mouth. Hampshire.
The algorithm used is based on the
standard expression for the natural loga-
rithm of a variable x:
(x-1) 1 (x-1)' 1 (x-1)*
In (x)=2( + + + )
(x+1) 3 (x+1) 5 (x+1)
A check is first made to ensure that the
LN argument is positive, an error mess-
age being output if it is not. Lines 9040 to
9080 are initialisation to set up values for
the iteration to be carried out by the For-
Next loop in lines 9090 to 9 1 30. T his loop
calculates the higher-order terms of the
series in turn and forms the current sum.
A check is made on the magnitude of the
latest term LT and the summation is term-
inated by exit from the loop when LT
becomes smaller than the limit specified
in line 9 1 20.
The series converges monotonically for
positive x, that is, successive terms are
always smaller than the previous term
and, in theory, approach but never reach
a value of zero. In practice, computers
have a finite word length and a constant
— zero — value is reached at some point.
This condition is the criterion for termi-
nating the series for x <1.
Some ZX-81s are different, as those
who have a faulty ROM can demonstrate
by altering the inequality in line 9120. As
the program stands, a value of x=0. 125
produces a logarithm of — 2.0794 and an
antilog of 0. 1 25, which is correct. Chang-
ing the condition to
. 2(1.0 E-10
produces the incorrect result:
x=0.125; ln=1.9205; antilog= 6.8247.
This is also the result obtained from the
keyboard function. The changeover from
Circle No. 169
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
right to wrong occurs at about 2.3283
E-10.
SQR and ** functions are obtained
from the relationship
y = n*ln(x)
where n takes the value 1/2 as a special
case of ** for SQR.
The way to find out if a ZX-81 has a
faulty ROM has not been too clearly
described, and some users may be in
doubt as to which type they have. The
short program in listing 2 is a good test.
It calculates the log of a number
sequence and prints out the numbers with
the corresponding antilog — which ought
to be the same, or virtually so. If it is not
then the ROM is clearly faulty. My
favourite is 2.44 14E — 4 — 1/4,096 —
which, after LN/EXP. is thought by mv
ZX-81 to be 2,169.46.
Atomic orbitals
in PHYSICS and chemistry examination
courses there is an area of overlap in the
section relating to the arrangement of
electrons, protons and neutrons within
the 92 natural elements, writes Brian
Smith of Keighley, West Yorkshire. This
is usually taught by drawing the electronic
configurations on the blackboard or by
prepared overhead-projection trans-
parencies.
Electron orbits.
It is only possible to draw up to the first
30 elements using these methods, due to
the number of electrons to draw in. It is
possible to construct displays using
switches, but due to the complexity of the
higher elements this would involve com-
plex switching. The display itself would be
so large as to prevent easy movement
from laboratory to laboratory. The prob-
lem is to plot one to 92 electrons in a specific
order in specific circular orbits and to plot
the relevant number of protons and neut-
rons in the nucleus so that they are large
enough to see and yet remain portable.
This is a job the micro is easily capable of
coping with.
Every atom has a central portion called
the nucleus, which contains the neutrons
and protons. Orbiting around the
nucleus are the electrons, which revolve in
a number of orbits, or shells, labelled 1 to 7.
Each of these orbits can only hold a
specific number of electrons. To add to
the problem, they are also divided up
further. Each division can only hold so
many electrons.
Orbit
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Number of
electrons
Suborbit
s s s s s s s
2
P P P P P
6
d d d d
10
f f
14
To thoroughly confuse the issue, the
orbitals do not fill up sequentially as you
might expect. The order of filling the
orbitals is: 1 s, 2s, 2p, 3s, 3p, 4s, 4p, 5s, 4d,
5p, 6s, 4f, 5d, 6p, 7s, 5f, 6d, 7p. However,
when one of the orbitals is nearly full, an
electron can drop into that orbital from an
outer one to fill it so as to increase the
stability of the atom since full and half-
full orbitals are very stable.
Fhe number of electrons, protons and
neutrons for each element is determined
by the element's atomic number and atom-
ic mass. For example, carbon has an
atomic mass of 1 2 and an atomic number
of six. The number of protons and elec-
trons is equal to the atomic number and
the number of neutrons is equal to the
atomic mass minus the atomic number. In
the case of carbon the number of neut-
rons is six, the number of protons is six
and the number of electrons is six. The
standard way of writing the element with
(continued on page 119)
117
Sharp bring you the MZ80B.
A machine that offers you functions
previously .only associated with more
powerful, more expensive computers; that
S ou versatility to handle a huge range
ware and hardware applications in
scientific, business and personal use.
The MZ80B opens up a new world of
graphic display potential, more flexible data
storage and retrieval, and ease of operation.
Here is the computer from the future.
Available today.
Stunning Graphic Display.
Seeing is believing. The large-screen,
high-focus, green-face display
incorporated in the MZ80B gives you high-
resolution graphics of 320 x 200 dots.
An additional graphic RAM can be
added which allows another 320 x 200 dot
resolution pattern to be displayed.
This dual high-resolution graphic
ability is especially useful for simulating and
displaying a dynamic picture. It can display
40 characters x 25 lines or 80 characters x 25
lines via software switching.
In addition there are facilities for full,
on-screen editing, reverse video, partial
scrolling and a full range of graphic symbols.
Character and Graphic Printer.
This fast, quiet printer will reproduce
your graphic displays and, of course, print-
out upper and lowercase letters and
symbols. A tractor/friction feed version is
also available.
Data Storage/retrieual.
The MZ80B has a remarkable
memory. 64K of RAM. And that constitutes
all the memory area, giving flexible storage
of any computer language and its software.
The cassette deck is electromagnetically-
controlled, with a data transfer speed of
1 800 bits/sec combined with a unique
programme search
facility to make data storage
and retrieval super-fast
A typewriter-style keyboard
incorporates characters and symbols plus a
numeric key-pad and ten user-definable
keys for fast and simple operation.
BASIC is, of course, provided with
Z-80 Assembler Packages, PASCAL and a
BASIC compiler.
Floppy Dish Driua.
A twin Floppy Disk Drive unit can be
added which will give you 560 bytes of
storage on double-sided, double-density
disks.
Comprehensiue Documentation.
Each MZ80B comes complete with a
full set of documentation including an
owners' manual giving full circuit diagrams,
a monitor reference manual and
programming manuals.
lntErfacG5
RS-232C and IEEE Interfaces are
available from January 1982 allowing the
MZ80B to communicate with scientific
instruments and other peripherals.
cpmz2
CP/M* is also available making a
wide range of packages immediately avail-
able including wordprocessing, financial
modelling, data base management to
mention but a few. CP/M* also increases
the disk capacity to 680K.
(CP/M* is a Trade Mark of Digital Research Ltd).
OM/tfenemoat
SHARP ELECTRONICS (UK) LTD., COMPUTER DIVISION.
SHARP HOUSE. THORP RD.. NEWTON HEATH.
MANCHESTER M109BE TELEPHONE: 061-205 2333.
Pleas
me full information on
the Sharp MZ80B compute..
Name
Address
PC 2/82
To: Sharp Electronics (UK) Ltd., Computer Division,
Sharp House. Thorp Road, Newton Heath,
j Manchester M10 9BE. Telephone 061-205 2333. J
Make the most of your
Sinclair ZX Computer...
Sinclair ZX
software
on cassette.
£ 3 .— per cassette.
The unprecedented popularity of
the ZX Series of Sinclair Personal
Computers has generated a large
volume of programs written by users.
Sinclair has undertaken to
publish the most elegant of these
on pre-recorded cassettes. Each
program is carefully vetted for
interest and quality, and then
grouped with other programs to
form a single-subject cassette.
Each cassette costs £3.95
(including VAT and p&p) and comes
complete with full instructions.
Although primarily designed
for the Sinclair ZX81, many of the
cassettes are suitable for running
on a Sinclair ZX80 - if fitted with a
replacement 8K BASIC ROM.
Some of the more elaborate
programs can be run only on a
Sinclair ZX Personal Computer
augmented by a 16K-bvte add-on
RAM pack.
This RAM pack and the
replacement ROM are described
below. And the description of each
cassette makes it clear what
hardware is required.
8K BASIC ROM
The 8K BASIC ROM used in the
ZX81 is available to ZX80 owners
as a drop-in replacement chip.
With the exception of animated
graphics, all the advanced features
of the ZX81 are now available on a
ZX80- including the ability to run
much of the Sinclair ZX Software.
The ROM chip comes with a
new keyboard template, which can
be overlaid on the existing
keyboard in minutes, and a new
operating manual.
16K-BYTE RAM pack
The 16K-byte RAM pack provides
16-times more memory in one
complete module. Compatible with
theZX81a;/JtheZX80,itcanbeused
for program storage or as a database.
The RAM pack simply plugs
into the existing expansion port on
the rear of a Sinclair ZX Personal
Computer.
Cassette 1 -Games
For ZX81 (and ZX80 with 8K
BASIC ROM)
ORBIT -your space craft’s
mission is to pickup a very valuable
cargo that’s in orbit around a star.
SNIPER -you’re surrounded
by 40 of the enemy. How quickly
can you spot and shoot them when
they appear?
METEORS -your starship is
cruising through space when you
meet a meteor storm. How long can
you dodge the deadly danger?
LIFE - J. H. Conway’s ‘Game of
Life’ has achieved tremendous
popularity in the computing world.
Study the life, death and evolution
patterns of cells.
WOLFPACK-your naval
destroyer is on a submarine hunt.
The depth charges are armed, but
must be fired with precision.
GOLF- what’s your handicap?
It’s a tricky course but you control
the strength of your shots.
Cassette 2 -Junior
Education: 7-11-year-olds
For ZX81 with 16K RAM pack
CRASH-simple addition-with
the added attraction of a car crash
if vou get it wrong.
MULTIPLY- long multi-
plication with five levels of
difficulty. If the answer’s wrong -
the solution is explained.
TRAIN -multiplication tests
against the computer. The winner’s
train reaches the station first.
FRACTIONS - fractions
explained at three levels of
difficulty. A ten-question test
completes the program.
ADDSUB- addition and
subtraction with three levels of
difficulty. Again, wrong answers
are followed by an explanation.
DIVISION - with five levels of
difficulty. Mistakes are explained
graphically, and a running score is
displayed.
SPELLING -up to 500 words
over five levels of difficulty. You
can even change the words yourself.
Cassette 3 -Business and
Household
For ZX81 (and ZX80 with 8K
BASIC ROM) with 16K R/\M pack
TELEPHONE - set up your own
computerised telephone directory
and address book. Changes,
additions and deletions of up to
50 entries are easy.
NOTE PAD -a powerful, easy-
to-run system for storing and
retrieving everyday information.
Use it as a diary, a catalogue, a
reminder system, or a directorv.
BANK ACCOUNT -a
sophisticated financial recording
system with comprehensive
documentation. Use it at home to
keep track of ‘where the money
goes,’ and at work for expenses,
departmental budgets, etc.
Cassette 4 -Games
For ZX81 (and ZX80 with 8K
BASIC ROM) and 16K RAM pack
LUNAR LANDING -bring the
lunar module down from orbit to a
soft landing. You control attitude
and orbital direction -but watch the
fuel gauge! The screen displays your
flight status-digitally and graphically.
TWENTYONE-a dice version
ofBlackjack.
COMBAT- you’re on a suicide
space mission. You have only 12
missiles but the aliens have
unlimited strength. Can you take
12 of them with you?
SUBSTRIKE -on patrol, your
frigate detects a pack of 10 enemy
subs. Can you depth-charge them
before thev torpedo you?
CODEBREAKER -the
computer thinks of a 4-digit number
which you have to guess in up to 10
tries. The logical approach is best!
MAYDAY - in answer to a distress
call, you’ve narrowed down the
search area to 343 cubic kilometers
of deep space. Can you find the
astronaut before his life-support
system fails in 10 hours time?
Cassette 5 -Junior
Education: 9-11-year-olds
For ZX81 (and ZX80 with 8K
BASIC ROM)
MATHS -tests arithmetic with
three levels of difficulty, and gives
your score out of 10.
BALANCE -tests understanding
of levers/fulcrum theory with a
series of graphic examples.
VOLUMES -‘yes’ or ‘no’
answers from the computer to a
series of cube volume calculations.
AVERAGES - what’s the average
height of your class? The average
shoe size of your family ? The average
pocket money of your friends? The
computer plots a bar chart, and
distinguishes MEAN from MEDIAN.
BASES -convert from decimal
(base 10) to other bases of your
choice in the range 2 to 9.
TEMP -Volumes, temperatures
-and their combinations.
How to order
Simply use the order form below,
and either enclose a cheque or give
us the number of your Access,
Barclaycard orTrustcard account.
Please allow 28 days for delivery.
14-day money-back option.
Sinclair -
ZX SOFTWARE
Sinclair Research Ltd,
6 Kings Parade, Cambridge,
Cambs., CB2 ISN.Tel: 0276 66104.
To: Sinclair Research, FREEPOST , Cambcrlcy, Surrey, GU15 3BR. Please print
Please send me the items I have indicated below.
Qty
Code
Item
Item price
Total
21
Cassette 1 -Games
£3.95
22
Cassette 2-Junior Education
£3.95
23
Cassette 3-Business and Household
£3.95
24
Cassette 4-Games
£3.95
25
Cassette 5 -Junior Education
£3.95
17
*8K BASIC ROM for ZX80
£19.95
18
* 1 6K RAM pack for ZX81 and ZX80
£49.95
•Post and packing (ifapplicablc)
£2.95
Total £
•Please add £2.95 to total order value only ifordcring ROM and/or RAM.
I enclose a cheque/PO to Sinclair Research Ltd for£
Please charge my Access VBarclaycard/Trustcard no.
1 I I 1 I I 1 1 I I 1 I I I 1 I I
* Please delete as applicable.
Name: Mr/Mrs/Miss I 1 1 ! ! 1 1 ! ! 1 ! ! 1 1 1
Address: 1 ! 1 1 1 ! ! i 1 I 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
“_i
• Circle No. 168
THE miCRDPUTE CHALLENGE
FIND A COMPUTER TO COMPARE
WITH THE IB/Mf . . . NEVER.
. . . Because the SIG/NET offers the price advantage of
the low cost systems together with the flexibility and
infinite expansion capabilities of the high cost systems.
Or in other words a great deal more fora great
deal less.
For just £ 1 ,299.00 the standard SIG/NET offers the
flexibility to choose the terminal best suited to your
requirements, the printer to give the speed and quality you
need and disk capacity from 400,000 to 40 Million
characters.
The standard SIG/NET 202S £ 1 ,299.00
5 Megabyte hard disk system £3, 1 00.00
10 Megabyte 4 User £6,000.00
10 Megabyte 10 User £9,500.00
FOR FURTHER TECHNICAL DATA AND THE NAME OF YOUR NEAREST DEALER
SEND THE COUPON NOW !
r
i
i
i
miCRDPUTE 1
Catherine Street, Macclesfield, Cheshire, SK 1 1 6QV. Tel (0625) 6 12759.
NAME POSITION
COMPANY NAME
l
I
l
TEL NO
Dealer enquiries invited for certain areas of the Midlands and North
COMPANY ADDRESS _
• Circle No. 167
THERE'S JUST NONE TO COMPARE.
• Unbeatable value for money.
• Advanced and innovative BRITISH design.
• BRITISH BUILT.
• Unrivalled expansion .
• Faster than comparable systems.
• Full 64K of memory.
• Sold only through approved dealers.
• CP/M compatible.
miCHDPUTE
miCfiDPUTE
microcomputer systems
Catherine Street,
Macclesfield,
Cheshire,
SKI 1 6QY.
Tel: (0625) 6 1 2759.
. . that’s the only word to really describe the superb Genie
microcomputer system, the home computer which is
compatible with the TRS 80. and ideal for all micro -
enthusiasts, especially the committed hobbyist.
Genie has now been upgraded to Genie I, incorporating all of the original,
excellent features, but with the addition of:
• Extended BASIC, including RENUMBER and SCREEN PRINT.
• Full upper and lower case, flashing cursor and auto-repeat on all keys.
• An internal SOUND UNIT to add a new dimension to your own programs.
• A MACHINE LANGUAGE MONITOR, with Display, modify, enter and execute
(with break points) facilities.
Genie I has all of this, plus the built-in cassette deck, 16K RAM, 12k ROM with
BASIC interpreter, full-size keyboard , an extremely wide range of new and up-
dated peripherals, and literally 1000’s of pre-recorded programmes available.
Yet. almost unbelievably, the price of Genie I is even lower than that of the original
Genie.
Ingenious for business
The Genie II is a major
breakthrough for small
business computers.
{ Harnessing all the
advantages of Genie I,
1 including low price, Genie
1 II adapts perfectly to
■ commercial functions
' M with the following
features:
• Numeric keyboard • Basic business commands
• Four usable, definable • Fully expandable with the
function keys. same peripherals
• Extension to BASIC
New!. ..Printer
The EG 602 printer can be connected to the
Genie either through the expander or directly
into the computer using the Parallel Printer
Interface. It is a compact unit, with an 80
column, 5x7 matrix print-out, operating
quietly and efficiently at 30 characters per
second.
Disk Drive
As well as the obvious advantage of mass
storage, the addition of the disk system to
the Genie means much faster access to
other languages and full random access
file handlmg.Up to 4 of these 40 track
drives can be used on a system.
!# SPECIAL TECHNICAL GENIE
HOT - LINE ON 0629 4995
for all your technical advice and service back-up on any
aspect of the Genie system direct from the experts!
New!...13" Monitor
Now, a choice of 2 monitors giving a clear easy to
read image. The updated EG101 has a new green
phospher tube.
New!. ..Expander
An updated Expansion Box (EG 3014) is a
major feature of the new Genie I system,
ana unleashes all its possibilities, allowing
for up to 4 disk drives with optional
double density. It connects to a printer, or
RS232 interface or S100 cards. There is 16k
RAM fitted and it has a new low price!
For full details and demonstration of Genie I, Genie II or advice on any aspect
of the system, either call in to your local dealer, or write directly to the sole
importers at the address below.
Chesterfield Road, Matlock, Derbyshire DE4 5LE.
Telephone: 0629 4995. Telex: 377482 Lowlec G.
* Housed in strong, stylish case with high
quality QWERTY keyboard.
* 0.7Mbyte floppy disc system available in
matching case.
* Full 8K RAM, expandable to 200K with
page mode and RAM boards.
* Factory-built options plus additional range
of Nascom-approved hardware and
software.
Think of Nascom3 as an advanced
personal computer, built to professional
standards and offering the total systems-
versatility needed by enthusiasts whose
imaginations are already ahead of the toy
computer field.
Think of Nascom3 as the powerful heart of
a truly versatile educational or business
computer system, with added peripherals and
an extensive range of firmware and software
options.
Or think of Nascom3 as a custom-
structured industrial control unit, well capable
of cutting production costs in many key
areas.
Nascom3; reliable, expandable, affordable
- and backed by one of Britain’s best known
engineering groups. Think about it.
Lucas Logic
Nascom Microcomputers
Division of Lucas Logic Limited
Warwick CV34 5PZ.
198
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
INGENIOUS
Genie I
All -the features of the EG3003 system
plus: # Machine Language Monitor
* Fitted Sound * Renumber Command
* Full Lower Case * Screen Print
Genie II
The MacroComputer
Offering all the advantages of the
Genie I system, with the benefit
of advanced design for the
professional user.
EPSON MX80
EPSON MX100
ANADEX
PAPER TIGER
T.E.C.
SCRIPTA
MICROLINE 80
micros
29 Belvedere, Lansdown Road, Bath.
Telephone: (0225) 3346 59 .
• Circle No. 281
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
197
_ impwiir)
Note:
(Error;
Maplin Electronic Supplies Ltd iionsa»° ur
P.O. Box 3, Rayleigh, Essex. >^oemonst«o^
Tel: Southend (0702) f the a mazWJ * * 6
552911/554155. f %-W w ?|, S 0 i.7A8 0926
: Order codes shown in brackets Prices tirm until 15th May. 1982 and include VAT and Postage and Packing ^ e ^ C \''|o702) 55^00^
(Errors excluded)
196
• Circle No. 280
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
mopun
the people f or Atarn
3 Consoles available:
Atari 400 with 16K RAM(AF36P) £345
Atari 400 with 32K RAM(AF37S)£395
Atari 800 with 16K RAM (AF02C) £645
NOW YOU CAN JOIN THE U.K. ATARI COMPUTER OWNER’S CLUB. An independent user’s group.
Four issues of the club magazine for only £1.60! Address your subscription to Graham.
Lots of other hardware:
Cassette Recorder
Disk Drive
Thermal Printer
Printer Interface for 400
Printer Interface for 800
Interface Module
Versawriter
(AF28F) £50.00
(AF06G) £345.00
(AF04E) £265.00
(AF41U) £49.95
(AF42V) £49.95
(AF29G) £135 00
(AF43W) £169.00
16K RAM Module
32K RAM Module
32K Upgrade for 400
Floppy Disk
Le Stick
Joystick Controllers
For full details ask for our
(XH54J) SAE appreciated
(AF08J) £64.00
(AF44X) £125 35
(AF45Y) £75.00
(YX87U) £2.75
(AC45Y) £24 95
(AC37S) £13.95
hardware leaflet
THE CHOICEST GEMS OF ATARI SOFTWARE FROM MAPLIN
Advsnturs Qamos
Star Warrior
Rescue AlRigel
Invasion Orion
DatestonesolRyn
Galactic Empire
Hi ResAdventure// ?
Analog Adventure
Adventure Land
PiratesAdventure
Mission impossible
VoodooCastle
I he Count
Strange Odyssey
Mystery Fun House
Pyramid ol Doom
Ghost Town
Savage Island I
Savage island li
Golden Voyage
EnergyCzar
Kingdom
Tsach-Yoursslf Prog
Conversational French
Conversational German
Conversational Spanish
Conversational Italian
Touch Typing
States & Capitals
European Countries &
Capitals
Learn Programming
invitation to Programming
Basics of Animation
Basicsof Animation
Player Missile Graphics
Player MissileGraphics
Display Lists
Display Lists
Horiz/VerticalScroll
Honz/ Vertical Scroll
C-32K (B024B)
C 32K (BQ21X)
C 32K (BQ23A)
C 3?K (BQ22Y)
C ?4K (B0140)
D 48K (BQ25C)
D 32K (BQ33L)
C ?4K • (BQOOA)
C 24K (BG01B)
C 24K (BQ02C)
C 24K (BQ03D)
-C-24K (B004E)
C-24K (BQ05F)
•C 24K-(BQ06G)
-C-24K (BQ07H)
C-24K-(BQ08J)
C 24K (BQ09K)
C-24K(B010L)
-C-24K-(BQ1 1M)
C- 1 6K - ( YG53H)
•C-8K-(YG55K)
ami
5C-16K-IYG44X)
5C - 1GK - (YG45Y)
5C • 16K • (YG46A)
5C 16K (YG47B)
2C 16K (YG49D)
C 24K (YG56L)
£28 95
C22 45
£18 95
£14 95
£14 95
£24 95
£24 95
£14 95
£14 95
£14 95
£14 95
£14 95
£14 95
£14 95
£14 95
£14 95
£14 95
£14 95
£14 95
£8 95
£8 95
£32 50
£32 50
£32 50
£32 50
£14 95
£8 95
C- 16K - ( YG57M ) £8 95
•C-8K(YG43W)
C-32K-(BQ57M)
-D-32K (BQ58N)
C-16K-IBQ59P)
•D-24K-(BQ60Q)
- C - 16K (B051F)
- D - 24K - ( BQ52G)
C* 16K - (B053H)
D-24K-(BQ54J)
£11 95
£9 95
£10 95
£18 95
£19 95
£9 95
£10 95
£9 95
£10 95
Page F lipping
Page Flipping
Master Memory Map
Business Program
Visicaic
Word Processor
Calculator
Graph — It
Statistics
Arcade Games
Star Raiders
Asteroids
Space invaders
Missile Command
Super Breakout
Tan Irek
Tan Trek
Star Irek 3 5
Race inSpace
Shooting Gallery
Mountain Shoot
Jawbreaker
Basketball
Tank Trap
Tank Trap
Home Game Progr
Scram
Cypher Bowl
Thunder Island
Rotating Tilt
Lunar Lander
Jumbo Jet Lander
Submarine Commander
Sunday Golt
Darts
Tournament Pool
Snooker & Billiards
Chess
Microchess
Checker King
Cribbage& Dominoes
• C 16K (BQ55K) £9 95
D 24K (B0561) £10 95
Wallchart (XH57M) £4 00
18
D 32K (Yl 39N)£1 19 95
D 32K (YG42V) £85 00
D 24K (YG50E) £16 95
C 16K (YG51F) £11 95
C 16K (YG52G) £11 95
E 8K (Y(if,6W)
E 8K (YG60Q)
E 8K (YG70M)
E 8K (YG64U)
E 8K (YG67X)
•C 24K (Y136P)
-D-32K (YL37S)
C-32K(BQ15R)
C- 1 6K • (B035Q)
-C- 16K (BQ36P)
C 16K (B012N)
D 48K (BQ26D)
E 8K (YG61R)
• C ■ 16K • (YL34M)
■ D-32K • (YL350)
•16/24K
C-32K
•16K
-16K
-16K
•C-16K
C-16K
-C-16K
•C-16K
-C-16K
-C-16K
- E - 8K
•C-16K
-C-16K
-C-16K
(YG58N)
(BQ20W)
(BQ37S)
(BQ48C)
(BQ16S)
• (B046A)
•(B047B)
(B013P)
(B042V)
(BQ45Y)
•IB044X)
(YG63T)
(YL40T)
(YL41U)
(B043W)
£29 95
£29 95
£24 50
£29 95
£29 95
£8 95
£11 95
£14 95
£14 95
£14 95
£10 95
£22 95
£29 95
£8 95
£11 95
£12 95
£22 45
£10 95
£14 95
£10 95
£29 95
£24 50
£10 95
£1995
£19 95
£19 95
£29 95
£15 95
£15 95
£14 95
Poker Solitaire
Blackjack
Fast Gammon
Reversi (Othello type)
Gomoko
Hangman
Hurnpty Dumpty & Jack & Jill
Hickory Dickory Dock
British Heritage
Jig Saw Puzzles
European Scene
Jig Saw Puzzles
Atari Safari (25 Programs)
Atari Safari (25 Programs)
Mind Bogglers ( 3 Programs)
Music Programs
Music Composer
Movie Themes (use with
Music Composer)
C 16K (BQ1 7T)
C 8K (YG62S)
-C-8K (YL33L)
C 16K (B019V)
C 16K (BQ18U)
C ■ 8K - (YG54J)
16K - (BQ38R)
1 6K - (BQ39N)
£10 95
£8 95
£9 95
£14 95
£14 95
£8 95
£19 95
£19 95
C 16K (BQ40T) £19 95
16K - (B04 1 U)
16K-(BQ49D)
16K (B050E)
16K • (YL38R)
£19 95
£18 95
£24 95
£8 95
•E-8K-(YG48C) £32 50
C- 16K - ( B034M ) £9 95
Computer Languagas
Basic A +
Operating System A +
Basic A + &
Operating System A 4
QS Forth
Pilot
Utilities
3DSuper Graphics
3D-Super Graphics
Atari World (Graphics)
Assembler Editor
Assembler
6502 Disassembler
6502 Disassembler
Character Generator
Character Generator
Teleimk
-D-48K-IBQ31J)
*D-48K-(B030H)
- D - 48K - (BQ32K)
-D-24K-IYL29G)
- E&2C - 8K - (YG69A)
-D 48K-(BQ28F)
-C-48K-(BG29G)
-D-48K-(BQ27E)
- E - 8K - (YG68Y)
-C- 1 6K - ( YL32K)
- C - 8K - ( YL30H )
- D-8K- (YL31 J)
- C - 1 6K - ( YL27E)
•D- 1 6K - ( YL28F )
t- 8K - ( YG59P)
£52 50
£52 50
£99 50
£44 90
£49 50
£29 95
£29 95
£43 95
£34 50
£14 95
£8 95
£11 95
£997
£12 50
£14 95
Key C = Cassette. D = Disk. E = Cartridge.
2C = 2 Cassettes etc 8K. 16K etc shows
minimum memory reguirement
Send sae now for our new software leaflet with details of all the above programs. Order As XH52G — Issue 2.
Lots of exciting new software titles available soon. Keep in touch with Maplin!
Subscribe now to America’s leading Atari-only magazine — Analog — 6 issues per year for just £9.00. Order as GG24B.
The MicroPro
software family
MicroPro produces an entire family of versatile, user-
friendly business software for microcomputers. Programs
that help you get a lot more work done with a lot less
time and effort. Programs that in many cases can join
together to multiply your problem-solving power.
WordStar
Easy, powerful, incredibly versatile - WordStar is the
way word processing should be. With WordStar software,
from MicroPro, what you see is what you get — the
screen shows you exactly what will be printed. And
WordStar's numerous onscreen instructions make it
simple to use its many capabilities. WordStar now
comes with a completely rewritten, easier to understand
manual. Also available are a T raining Guide for beginners,
a Reference Card listing WordStar commands and a
customisation manual for OEM's.
SpellStar
SpellStar is MicroPro's "proof-reader" on a disk. A
spelling checker program that works with WordStar
software, saving you countless hours of proof-reading.
Spell Star checks your text against its 20,000 word
dictionary-on-a-disk. You can add your own words to
SpellStar's dictionary, or create any number of supple-
mental dictionaries. Because SpellStar software operates
within the WordStar program, you get to see your
mistakes highlighted in context, and you're always only
one keystroke from full word processing.
CalcStar is MicroPro's electronic spread sheet and
financial modelling program — a sophisticated, yet easy
to use, calculating and planning tool. CalcStar software
calculates solutions to complex numerical problems in
business and finance. And it projects figures into the
future to answer the "what if" questions you face in
business. CalcStar is useful for projects such as budget
plans, sales forecasts, cash flow analysis, and for
evaluating the potential effect of financial decisions
with speed and accuracy. And CalcStar has an unique
MicroPro bonus: It joins with WordStar to combine
spread sheet and word processing capabilities in several
powerful ways.
CalcStar
DataStar
DataStar is MicroPro's high-powered data entry and
retrieval program-comprehensive, versatile, and quick.
DataStar software features power and faciltities usually
found only on large key-to-disk systems. And it gives
you remarkable flexibility by letting you design your
own data forms to match your exact needs before
entering data. The program includes sample forms to
guide you.
MailMerge
MailMerge from MicroPro, is a powerful multi-purpose
file merging program, used with WordStar software. One
of its most popular applications is producing personalized
form letters, at a fraction of the time and expense of
individually typed letters. MailMerge software lets you
combine a file of names and addresses with a WordStar
file containing a form letter. You can even insert special
words and phrases unique to each addressee into the
body of each letter. Other uses for MailMerge include
creating invoices, printing mailing labels, and producing
"boilerplate" legal documents out of many different
standard paragraphs.
CP/M is a trademark of Digital Research Corp.
TM is a trademark of Micro International Corp.
SuperSorf
SuperSort from MicroPro, lets you sort, merge, and
select with tremendous speed and convenience. Super-
Sort software accepts just about any kind of record you
can imagine. It can sort and merge up to 32 files into a
single file, up to 10 times faster than a BASIC language
sort program. Sort and merge instructions are easy to
enter. Errors are pointed out on the screen and easy to
correct.
As well as being the largest distributor of MicroPro
software in the U.K . , we are also the most competitive
and hold the largest stock. Contact us now for a free
16 page booklet on MicroPro Products and details of
our extensive product range.
TRADE ENQUIRIES WELCOME
Interam Computer Systems Ltd.
46 Balham High Road. London. SW12 9AQ
Telephone: 01-675 5325/6/7
Telex: 925859
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
• Circle No. 279
195
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PRACTICAL COMPUTING
FEBRUARY 1982
PCO 262
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PRACTICAL COMPUTING FEBRUARY 1982 PCO 262
SUBSCRIPTION
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Business Press Ltd. Cash with order please.
Name
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□ Subscription rate U.K. £10
□ Overseas £16
Airmail rates can be supplied on application to
the Subscription Department.
PRACTICAL COMPUTING
FEBRUARY 1982
PCO 262
r
COMPUTER PLUS
WATFORD
A smart new computer store with a very wide range of pro-
ducts. Staff experienced in computers and in business
systems are available to discuss your requirements — for a
stock-control system, a word-processor, a file-retrieval
system, a home computer — or just a book. Among the
systems on display:
COMMODORE — as full commercial systems dealers for
CBM, we handle the 4000 and 8000
series machines — with a vast range of
business, scientific & engineering soft-
ware. We have the VIC-20, too.
SHARP — MZ-80K (at a special low price) and the
super new MZ-80B, with CP/M, high res.
graphics, etc. The PCI 211 pocket com-
puter is also in stock.
COMMODORE — the amazing Atom — over 20,000 instal-
led — the ideal first computer for the
home. Ring to hear about our low prices.
TEXAS — the new TI-99/4A home computer, faster,
new keyboard, 16 colours, 5 octaves
music, over 400 software modules.
We also have a wide range of software, computer books and
supplies. We’re situated in the Queen’s Road, opposite
Trewins department store — and we’re near the car-parks!
COMPUTER PLUS
47 Queens Rd., Watford, Herts WD1 2LH
Telephone 0923 33927
• Circle No. 276
BEFORE YOU
JUMP IN AT
\''"J
Deep ond tactics aro alright for thoso
who want to learn fast but not when
massive capital investments are
involved.
DIGICO enable you to find out exactly what
computer facility you need before you get into,
tne deep end Step by step you can invest
and see results from your investment at every
stage
How?
Well start with the Prince micro-computer
system
Add to it accounting packages as you wish,
Such as payroll, purchase ledger, word
processing, sales ledger, order processing,
stock control and so on
It you need more facilities then add more
printers, disc storage, graphics etc . at each
Stage learning exactly what you need
And if you still want to grow, then add
another micro computer at the same price, or
link your existing investment to a mini-
computer as an on line terminal Then add lots
more terminals, ail accessing the same
information base
And you still have years more growth
potential with you plus a guaranteed
maintenance plan for seven years
At no stage is there massive capital
investment involved.
Send today for details on our mini micro
network and no longer will the inevitability of
computing loom fearfully on your horizon
DIGICO LIMITED. Arena House. 46 Broadway, letchworth. Herts. Tel 781 72 Leeds 486688
• Circle No. 277
(r
ST Commercial Systems Ltd
194
Brain Specialists
Simplify all your accounting
Sales, Purchases, Invoicing,
Payroll, Stock control
VAT Reports
Even Trial balances and
P & L Accounts
SuperBrain can work as a word processor
Provide All Tektronix type graphics
and even emulate a Tektronix terminal.
■ Communications to most mainframes and MINIS
■ Runs IBM “BISYNC” protocol emulating 3270s or 2780s.
■ Programming languages include PASCAL FORTRAN BASIC COBOL!
■ Disk capacities from 360K to 10M bytes • Prices from £ 1,695 plus VAT
■ Full range of CP/M software and peripherals
■ NEC spinwriters. EPSON printer MICROPRO software
■ DEALERS BEST DISCOUNTS 26 New Broadway E aiing, London ws
■ We also sell CROMEMCO and North Star Hardware. Telephone: 01-840 1926
• Circle No. 278
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
THE MORE YOU TAKE
THE MORE YOU GAIH FROM COMPUTIHG
MILESTONE: £210.-
Manual alone: £20.-
"Critical path" network analysis program for scheduling
manpower, dollars and time to maximise productivity.
NEW IMPROVED. Interactive project management pro-
gram that runs under CP/M. MILESTONE can be used to
track paper flow, build a computer, check a department's
performance, or build a bridge. MILESTONE can be used
by executives, engineers, managers, and small
businessmen.
— Produce PERT chart in minutes.
— Find critical tasks that can’t be delayed.
— Investigate tradeoffs between manpower, dollars
and time.
— Give plans to others using a printed project
schedule.
— Change details and immediately see the results
on screen.
— Balance time, manpower and costs.
Requires 56K RAM and CP/M. Specify Z80 or 8080. Also
available for Apple Pascal, UCSD Pascal or CP/M-86
operating systems.
Formats: 8, NS. MP. SB, TRS2, APPL, OB-1, XX, 1-5.
ACCESS/80
A report generator and cross-tabulator. Virtually any
report that can be described on paper can be generated
by using your existing ASCII data files. Produces reports
in minutes that would take hours to program in BASIC.
— Level I — Report Generator and Cross-Tabulator —
£ 210 .-
Read ASCII files and create sorted reports with subtotal-
ling capability. Provides multi/dimensional cross tabula-
tion and computation. Includes operating system
commands.
— Level II — Output and Logic Processor — £354.-
Everything in Level l plus, write out new files in any sorted
order (including subtotalling). Load arrays from files. Per-
forms binary search on sorted arrays in memory. Includes
control language extensions for complex applications.
“ wires CP/M i } M i -----
Require
CDOS,
SB, TRS2, APPL.
Personal PEARL: £210.-
— User fnendly application software generator. A fourth
generation language, automatically creates completely
new programs in CBASIC. Excellent documentation
makes it easy to create "personal" software such as
checking and financial programs, name, address and
telephone lists, etc.
Requires CP/M, CBASIC2 and 48K RAM. Formats: 8.
NS, SB, TRS2. APPL, OB-1, MP.
SPELLBINDER: £354-.
Manual alone £35.
Full feature word processing system with Office
Management capabilities. Its special features include
ease-of-use by office personnel, flexible print formatting &
output, and powerful macro capability which allows fea-
tures to be added for the unique requirements of each
user. Mail list macro is included for mail merge with form
Requires CP/M & 32K RAM. Formats: 8, NS, MP. CDOS,
SB, APPL. XX.
ACT I: £95.-
Manual alone £10-
CP/M compatible macro assembler for Z80, 8080/85,
6502 & 6800.
Assembler family supporting all major 8 bit micros. ACT
features include full macro capabilities, comprehensive
pseudo-ops, link-file structures, cross reference map.
and algebraic expression processor.
Requires 24K RAM & CP/M.
ACT II: £125.-
Manual alone £15.-
CP/M 2.x compatible cross assembler for 8086/88.
ACT III: £95.-
Manual alone £15.-
CP/M 2.x compatible cross assembler for 6809.
I and 48K RAM. Formats: 8. NS. MP,
II togi
Formats: 8, NS, CDOS, MP/M, TRS2, APPL, Ob-1, XX.
PASCAL/M: £160.-
Manual alone £15.-
CP/M compatible language for 8080/Z80 CPUs, sup-
ports full Jensen & Wirth plus 45 extensions to Standard
Pascal including Random access files,, 40 segment pro-
cedures & 16 bit BCD real type. Also includes symbolic
debugger which features trapping on stores, examining
and changing variables and tracing of program execution.
Requires CP/M 2.2 & 56K RAM. Formats: 8, NS, APPL,
TR,
DATEBOOK II: £210.-
Manual alone £18.-
— Schedules appointments for up to 27 different
doctors, lawyers, rooms, etc.
— File structure allows for appointments up to one
year in advance.
— Searches for openings that fit time of day. day of
week and/or day of year constraints.
— Appointments made, modified or cancelled
easily.
— Copies of day's appointments can be printed
quickly.
Requires 56K RAM and CP/M. Specify Z80 or 8080. Also
available for Apple Pascal, UCSD Pascal or CP/M-86
operating systems.
Formats: 8, NS, MP. SB. APPL, TRS2, OB-1, XX, 1-5.
CBASIC/86: £230.-
Manual alone £20.-
Industry standard intermediate code basic compiler with
runtime interpreter for CB/M-86. Features indude chain-
ing, integer and external pretision arithmetic, random and
sequential records of any length (not limited to 256 bytes).
Requires CP/M-86. Formats: 8. 1-5.
Video display can be scrolled over entire worksheet using ^
cursor controls. Symbolic vector reverrences eliminate 1
repetitive low level data manipulation commands. Easy to
use menu driven "Help" commands. Requires CP/M and
48K RAM. Formats: 8. NS. MP, SB. APPL, TRS2.
Call for terminal formats.
SUPERDOS: £100.-
Upgrade of CP/M2.2 for Superbrain. Includes ADM/31
Hazeltine, or Superbrain Terminal emulation mode. Other
new features include 132 character keyboard buffer,
repeat on all keys, key dick, user programmable numeric
keypad, 30% disk read/write improvement, real time
clock, baud rates to 19.2K on RS232 ports, printer hand-
shake modes, 4 new utilities, and 4 fixes.
Requires Superbrain 3.0. Format: SB.
TRANS 86 -£104.-
Manual alone £15.-
8086/88 Translator for existing 8080/Z80 programs. New
source code is easily edited and assembled using ACT II
to produce hex code which is executed by 8086/88 CPU.
Emphasizes the extensions and features available in the
8086/88.
Requires CP/M & 32K Ram. Formats: 8, NS, APPL, OB 1 .
XX.
MAILER — £75.-
A fast and easy to use mailing list program. Address
labels can get printed in any desired order induding
alphabetically. Data can be selected. APPL.
IMP — £310.-
Instant mathematical programming for complex
engineering design as well as allocation problems, stati-
stics, transport and many other applications. It allows a
user to enter difficult mathematical problems (simul-
taneous non-linear equations, linear programming con-
structs and multivariate analysis problems) in simple
algebraic form. APPL.
LISP £225.-
Interpreter for educational institutions, researchers and
individuals for a variety of artificial intelligence
applications. APPL.
squire
IS2.
PASCAL/M for 8086/88: £190.-
Mantial alone £15.-
All the features of PASCAL/M for the 8086 and 8088
processors running under CP/M-86.
Requires CP/M-86 and K RAM. Formats: 8. 1-5.
SUPERCALC: £210.-
Allows a layman to manipulate business data in a variety
of forecasting and accounting applications. Combines the
interactive nature of an electronic spreadsheet with the
power and convenience of a simple simulation language.
More Software:
Textwriter III
Spellguard
Pearl Level III
CBasic 2
Ultrasort-ll
FABS
SELECTOR/86
SELECTOR IV
GLECTOR for SELECTOR IV
S-BASIC
dBASE II
Product/Manual alone
E95/E20
E210/E14
E460/E38
E95/E20
E130/E15
E130/E15
E460/E26
E410/E26
E450/E26
E210/E28
E495/E38
Format Codes:
8 (8" single density IBM soft-sectored) NS (North Star
DD). MP (Micropolis Mod 11/Vector MZ). SB (Superbrain
3.0), CDOS (8" Cromemco CDOS), TRS2 (TRS-80
Modll), APPL (Apple II), OB-1 (Osborne-1), XX (Xerox
820), 1-5 (IBM 5 VO.
COPYRIGHT:
Access/80 Friends Software: Pearl Relational Systems: Pascal/M. ACT, Trans 86. Supercalc Sorcim. CBASIC 2,
CBASIC/86 Compiler Systems; Datebook II, Milestone, Textwriter III Organic Software; Spellguard ISA; CP/M, CP/M-
86 Digital Research; Superbrain Intertec Data Systems; S-Basic Topaz Programming; Spellbinder Lexisoft; Selector IV;
Selector/86, Glector Micro Ap.
■ 1 ,,/ a London
5 to 9
ZZ1 Z 17 WIGMORE STREET
LONDON, W1H 9LA.
ORDERS must specify disk type and format. Add 15% VAT to
orders. Add £1 per item postage and packing. All orders must be
prepaid. Make cheques, POs etc payable to HITEC Company, 5 to 9, 17
Wigmore Street, London W1H 9LA. Manual costs are deductible from
subsequent software purchase. Dealer Inquiries welcome.
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
• Circle No. 275
193
Save your time
on paperwork
and calculations
Visit The LONDON MICRO CENTRE to see
word processing and business programs in action.
The Centre stocks a full range of software packages,
but experience has shown that programs should
normally be tailored to meet the client’s
particular needs.
We are main SUPERBRAIN, SORCERER and
APPLE dealers. We can provide any printer to fit
these computers.
You can rent a word processor and a micro system
from £12.90 per week.
Contact us today for further information
The LONDON MICRO CENTRE
47 Lower Belgrave Street
LONDON SW1
Telephone: 01-730 8791
Open evenings and weekends
The LONDON MICRO CENTRE Ltd - An EMG Company
• Circle No. 272
r
PC3201 BUSINESS COMPUTER
REEN, TWIN DISC DRIVE,
PRINTER.
,995
“N
MZ80B
i PERSONAL/SCIENTIFIC
COMPUTER
64K £ 1,095
SHARP
Full range of Sharp peripherals available. Also software and consumables.
All prices exclude delivery and VAT. Finance arrangements available.
Call in for a demonstration at our showroom
(local demonstrations on site).
Nelson Computer Services Ltd
St. John’s Court, Rawtenstall, Lancs. BB4 7PA.
Tel: Rossendale (STD 0706) 229125 (5 lines) Telex: 635615
Circle No. 273
THREE ACES FOR THE DEALERS
A
A
A
Insurance
Recruitment
Advertisers
Brokers
Agency
Accounting
Accounting
System
System
System
RRP £1,500
RRP £350
RRP £1,500
V
V
V
This DEAL beats all others HANDS down
We give up to 45% discount on the above systems to our registered DEALERS
Demonstration systems available on request
We can guarantee you will find no JOKERS in this PACKAGE
All systems are CP/M based
<^y
p S cP
&
□ For further details contact Paul or
Dave on Stafford (0785) 4261 1 or
return the reply slip
&
(ft*
*
\0
V* c v
4T
c of!
✓
192
• Circle No. 274
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
FLOPPY DISK DRIVES
FOR TRS 80
AND VIDEO GENIE
DUAL DISK UNITS
2x40 TRACK DRIVES £440
2x80 TRACK DRIVES £569
SINGLE DISK UNITS
1 x 40 TRACK DRIVE
1 x 80 TRACK DRIVE
£236
£299
DISK DRIVE CABLES
2 DRIVE CABLE
4 DRIVE CABLE
£15.50
£26.00
Plugs into the TRS 80 expansion interface and corrects 'READ/VERIFY'
and 'CRC ERROR! TRACK LOCKED OUT!* problems on the inside tracks of any
floppy disk system. Comes with full installation instructions —
NO SOLDERING, NO CUTTING, JUST PLUGS INTO THE EXPANSION INTERFACE.
Call your nearest dealer for a demonstration :
RADIO SHACK LTD..
188, Broadhurst Gardens,
London NW6
Tel: 01-624-7174
COMPSHOP LTD..
14. Station Road.
New Barnet. Herts
Tel: 01441 2922
COMPSHOP LTD.,
311. Edgware Road.
London W2
Tel 01 262-0387
COMPSHOP LTD.,
19. Herbert Street.
Dublin 2
Tel 604165
LONDON COMPUTER
CENTRE. 43. Grafton
Way. London W1
Tel 01-388 5721
N.I.C.
61 . Broad Lane.
London N15.
Tel 01-808-0377
CROYDON COMPUTER
CENTRE. 29a. Bngstock
Road, Thornton Heath,
Surrey.
Tel 01-689 1280
P J EQUIPMENT LTD..
3. Bridge Street.
Guildford
Tel 0483 504801
R.D.S. ELECTRICAL
LTD.. 157-161, Kingston
Road, Portsmouth
Tel 0705-81 2478
TANDY HASTINGS
LTD., 48. Queens Road.
Hastings.
Tel 0424 431849
MICROWARE
COMPUTING
SERVICES. 57. Queen
Charlotte Street, Bristol
Tel 0272 279560
BLANDFORD
COMPUTERS, Higher
Shaftsbury Road.
Blandford Forum
Tel 0258 53737
TAPE SHOP
32i Viaduct Road.
Brighton
Tel 0273-609099
PARWEST LTD.,
18 St Mary Street.
Chippenham.
Tel 0249 2131
COMPUTER SHACK
14. Pittville Street.
Cheltenham
Tel 0242-584343
ENSIGN.
13-19, Milford Street,
Swindon. Wilts
Tel 079342615
TANDY
GLOUCESTER.
13, Clarence Street.
Gloucester
Tel 0452-31323
COMSERVE,
98. Tavistock Street.
Bedford
Tel 0234-216749
CLEARTONE
COMPUTERS. Prince of
Wales Ind. Estate.
Abercarn, Gwent
Tel 0495-244555
EMPRISE LTD.,
58. East Street.
Colchester.
Tel 0206-865926
MAGNUS MICRO-
COMPUTERS.
139 The Moors,
Kidlington, Oxford.
Tel 08675-6703
CAMBRIDGE
COMPUTER STORE.
1 . Emmanuel Street.
Cambridge.
Tel 0223-65334
I.C. ELECTRONICS.
Flagstones.
Stede Quarter,
Biddenden. Kent
Tel 0508-291816
MICRO CHIP SHOP.
190, Lo'd Street.
Fleetwood. Lancs.
Tel 03917-79511
HARDEN MICRO-
SYSTEMS. 28 30. Back
Lord Street. Blackpool,
Tel 0253-27590
AMBASSADOR
BUSINESS COM-
PUTERS LTD.,
Ashley Lane Works.
Shipley. W Yorks
Tel: 0274-595941
Q TEK SYSTEMS LTD.
2 Daltry Close. Old
Town. Stevenage. Herts
Tel: 0438-65385
COMPUTER & CHIPS
Feddmch Mams House.
St. Andrews. Fife.
Scotland
Tel: 0334-72569
NORTH WEST
COMPUTER
CONSULTANTS LTD
214 Market Street.
Hyde. Cheshire
Tel: 061-366-8624
HEWART MICRO-
ELECTRONICS.
95. Blakelow Road.
Macclesfield.
Tel 0625-22030
KARADAWN LTD.,
2 Forest Way.
Great Sankcy,
Warrington.
Tel 0925 572668
PHOTO-ELECTRICS.
459 London Road.
Sheffield
Tel: 0742-53865
ARC ELECTRONICS.
54. Heron Drive. Sandal
Nr. Wakefield.
W. Yorks WF2 6SL
Tel 0924 253145
VICTOR MORRIS
LTD., 340 Argyle
Street. Glasgow.
G2 8LY
Tel 041-221-8958
BRIERS COMPUTER
SERVICES. 1. King
Edward Square.
Middlesborough.
Clevland.
Tel: 0642-242017
3 LINE COMPUTING.
36. Clough Road. Hull.
Tel: 0482-445496
H.C. COMPUTER
SALES LTD.. 182,
Earlsway. Team Valley
Trading Estate,
Gateshead.
Tel 0632-87481 1
EWL COMPUTERS LTD..
8. Royal Crescent,
Glasgow.
Tel 041-332-7642
CUMANA LTD 35 Walnut Tree Close, Guildford, Surrey, GUI 4UN.
Telephone: (0483) 503121.
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
P/ease add VA T to all prices.
Delivery at cost will be advised
at time of order.
m Circle No. 271
191
Kuma Computers 4
BOOKS f FOR FULL RANGE SEND FOR FREE CATALOGUE
SYBEX
BOOKS
279 CP/M Handbook n 50
316 Intro to Pascal 1150
23 Micro-Interfacing technqs 1310
367 Pascal Progs lor Scientists & Engineers . . . 12.70
200 Programming the Z-80 1195
60 Programming the 6502 10.75
280 Your first Computer 7.75
334 Fifty Basic Exercises 1025
65 Basic Computer Games 5.95
327 Basic ComProgs for Bus Vol.1 8.50
374 Basic for Home Computers 5.30
302 Basic - A self teaching Guide (2nd Ed.) ... 5.95
171 Basic & Personal Computer 9.95
36 Instant Basic 8.75
161 More Basic Games 625
307. Using CP/M - A Self-Teaching Guide 7.50
OSBORNE BOOKS
1M Z-80 Assembly Language Programming .... 1Z10
» The CP/M Users Guide ... .... 10.10
365 The Apple 11 Users Guide 1110
VIC BOOKS
408 Getting Acquainted - VC20 5.95
415 VIC Revealed 7.00
276 PET Librar^of Subroutines ' 1000
303
332
Basic f
Basic Business Software
7.45
7.05
275 PET f
10.00
SHARP
MZ-flOK Sharp Softwear Techniques- 595
MZ-80K I Softwear Secrets 595
MISCELLANEOUS* CONSTRUCTIONAL
29
347
24
187
293
356
359
.274
ZX-81 BOOKS
413 Gateway Guide to ZX-80/81 5.95
385 Getting Acquainted | ZX-81 495
417 Hints l Tips for ZX-81 425
409 Mastering Machine Code ZX-81 555
416 Sinclair ZX-81 Prog/Real Applies 655
401 ZX-81 Companion 795
404 ZX-81 Pocket Book 595
412 Hot only 30 Progs. ZX-81 655
PHONE NOW FOR SHARP
HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE
The Cheap Video Cookbook 495
Son of Cheap Video Cookbook 695
TTL Cookbook 7.15
6502 Assembly Language Programming 13.50
Z8000 Assembly Language Programming 15.95
6809 Assembly Language Programming 13.50
68000 Microprocessor Handbook Kane 590
The 8086 Book (Inc 8088) 13.50
BASIC GAMES
65 Basic Computer Games 550 I
More Basic Games 550 |
Basic Computer Programs for the Home 650 ,
Some Common Basic Programs 1150 I
Games Playing with Basic 6.15 1
89 Basic Computer Programs for the Home 650
BASIC AND APPLICATIONS
140 Basic Basic 6.75 I
Advanced Basic 6.85
The Basic Handbook 1150
Basic Comp Progs in Science & Engin. 6.50
Basic Programing Primer 7.95
Beginning Basic 8.65
Problem Solving and Structured Prog, in Basic 9.40
Add £150 p & p to orders under £10.00.
Carriage free on orders over £10.00 within mainland U.K.
Overseas add 15%
Telephone Orders.
Just give your Credit Card number (Barclay Card or Access)
and requirements on our 24 hour 7 day Ansaphone Service.
Kuma Computers :||§
11 York road Maidenhead Berks.
Phone:Maidenhead(0628)71778/9
Telex: 849462 TEL FAC.KUM
-X-
161
289
39
70
OFFICE USE
ORDER FORM
GOODS REQUIRED REF. NO
Add El for P & P on Orders under £10
TOTAL
PRICE
Name . .
Address
TICK FOR FREE CA TALOGUE □
• Circle No. 269
AMERICAN MAIL ORDER & SOFTWARE
your order form. Includirn
type. All prices include ‘
DYNACOMP
□ Stud Poker
□ Moonprobe
□ Alpha Fighter
□ Intruder Alert
□ Giant Slalom
□ Monarch
□ Crystals
□ Nominoes
□ Chomp Othello
C. E. SOFTWARE
□ Helicopter Battle
□ Tractor Beam
□ Kend
□ Horseracing
□ Supermaster
□ Mad Marble
□ Lightning Bolts & Reaction
□ Musigame
□ Tag
□ War at Sea
U.S.A. SOFTWARE
□ 3-0 Supergraphics
CRYSTALWARE
□ House of Usher
□ Galactic Quest
□ Sumer
□ Laser Wars
□ World War 3
□ Beneath the Pyramids
□ Sands of Mars
□ Little Crystal
W
postage & packing.
ATARI
16K(C)
16K(C)
24K(C)
16K(C)
16K(C)
16K(C)
24K(C)
24K(C)
16K(C)
16K(C)
8K(C)
8K(C)
16K(C)
8K(C)
8K(C)
16K(C)
16K(C)
16K(C)
16K(C)
10.99
9.99
11.99
15.99
11.99
10.99
9.99
15.99
10.99
9.95
9.95
9.95
9.95
9.95
9.95
9.95
9.95
9.95
14.95
» page as
machine
Send 50p for
full catalogues
of software available.
DEALER ENQUIRIES
INVITED
□ Fantasy Land 2041
0
34.99
ADVENTURE INTERNATIONAL
TRS-80
□ Waterloo
0
32.99
□ Curse of Crowley Manor
16K(C)
16.50
□ Quest for Power
0
26.99
□ Escape from Traam
□ Balrog Sampler
16K(C)
32K(D)
16.50
24.95
ADVENTURE INTERNATIONAL
ATARI
TRS-80
□ Stone of Sisyphus
32K(C)
24.95
□ Adventureland
24K(C)
16K(C)
16.50
□ Morton’s Fork
32K(D)
24.95
□ Pirate’s Adventure
„
□ Little Red Riding Hood
16K(C)
12.50
□ Mission Impossible
„
„
,,
□ Match Maker
16K(C)
12.50
□ Voodoo Castle
„
„
□ Old McDonald's Farm
16K(C)
32K(D)
12.50
□ The Count
„
„
„
□ Six Micro Stories
12.50
□ Strange Odyssey
,,
„
„
□ Local Call for Death
32K(D)
16.50
□ Mystery Fun House
„
„
□ Two Heads of the Coin
32K(D)
16.50
□ Pyramid of Doom
□ Ghost Town
„
□ His Majesty's Ship "Impetuous”
□ Dragons of Hong Kong
32K(D)
16.50
„
„
it
32K(D)
16.50
□ Savage Island Part 1
„
i.
□ Missile Attack
16K(C)
12.50
□ Savage Island Pari 2
„
□ Frog
12.50
□ Golden Voyage
„
„
□ Planetoids
16.50
□ Star Trek 3.5
32K(C)
,,
16.50/12.50
□ Showdown
12.50
□ Lunar Lander
16K(C)
„
12.50
□ Silverflash
12.50
□ Galactic Trader
32K(C)
„
16.50/12.50
□ Tunnels of Fahad
■
12.50
□ Galactic Empire
32K(C)
„
16.50/12.50
□ Musical YAT-C
12.50
□ Galatic Revolution
AVALON HILL
32K(C)
16.50/12.50
□ Maxi Manager
□ Starfighter
□ Zossed in Space
□ Star Scout
48K(D)
16K(C)
84.50
20.95
12.50
12.50
□ B-1 Nuclear Bomber
16K(C)
16K(C)
12.50
□ Treasure Quest
12.50
□ Midway Campaign
32K(C)
16K(C)
12.50
□ Slag
□ FOM
12.50
□ North Atlantic Convoy Raider 16K(C)
16K(C)
12.50
„
17.50
□ Planet Miners
24K(C)
16K(C)
12.50
□ Conquest of Chesterwoode
16.50
□ Lands of Karma
40K(C)
48K(C)
17.50
□ Mean Chicken Machine
12.50
□ Computer Acquire
N/A
16K(C)
17.50
□ Back-40 III
12.50
□ Conflict 2500
32K(C)
16K(C)
12.50
□ Z-Chess III
20.95
□ Empire of the Evermind
40K(C)
48K(C)
24.95
□ Project Omega
„
12.50
□ Tanktics
24K(C)
16K(C)
19.95
□ Sinutek
..
12.50
40K(C) 39.99
0 19.99
0 19.99
0 11.99
0 19.99
0 19.99
0 19.99
0 26.99
0 26.99
The Avalon Hill games include the programs for TRS-80, Atari,
Apple & Pet on the same tape.
TRS-80 trademark of Tandy Corp Apple trademark of Apple Inc. PET trademark of CBM Inc.
Atari trademark of Atari
SPECIALISTS IN MICROCOMPUTER HARDWARE/SOFTWARE
119 John Bright Street
COMPUTERS LIMITED nSSfoXeM ells
190
• Circle No. 270
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
MAXIMUM VALUE . . . MINIMAL COST
The popular Houston Instrument HI-PLOT range of digital plotters:
• Well designed and ruggedly constructed
• Easy to interface via RS232C, IEEE or Centronics compatible
parallel interfaces
• Easy to use — software listings are available free of charge
• Wide choice of models
• Highly reliable
• Good quality
• 0. 1mm step size
• Single or
multi pen
A
SINTROM GROUP
DMP-2
£770
DMP-3
£985
DMP-4
£1055
DMP-5
£1215
DMP-6
£1430
DMP-7
£1570
£340
Sintrom Electronics
Complete mini/micro ^ Rsa
system capability ( © ) lai
Sintrom Electronics Ltd
Arkwright Road, Reading,
Berks RG2 0LS
Tel: Reading (0734) 85464
Telex: 847395
The standard A4 sized
HI-PLOT
A4 sized but intelligent
with remote controls
Intelligent like the DMP-3
with the same features but
with pushbutton controls
The A3 sized standard
HI-PLOT with the same
features as the original
DMP-2, but with vacuum
paper hold
A3 sized but intelligent
with remote controls
Like the DMP-6 but with
pushbutton controls
• Circle No. 370
LEEDS COMPUTER CENTRE
^Cipptc || EUROPLUS VIC
20
+
C17K INCLUDING VAT
4lfU P/P £3—
48K £695 + VAT
Disk with controller . . £360 + VAT
Disk without controller . . . £275 + vat
Monitors b/w or green.
Full raneje of Peripherals, Epsom and Paper
Tiger printers all discounted, Post & Packing
£4.
Price includes fully tested unit with
fitted plug.
Complete range of Vic-Peripherals.
SHARP MZ 80K
48K £395
inc. VAT
Q* COMMODORE PET
\ I I
/
—NEW- 4000SR. WITH LARGE 12” GREEN SCREEN
\
32K MODEL CROC • U , T
p.p. £5.00 LOSS inc. VAT
Access
and
Barclaycard
accepted
COMPLETE RANGE OF COMMODORE EQUIPMENT EX-STOCK
Official orders welcome: goods dispatched 24hr delivery. Please phone for our lowest prices.
SALES
SERVICE
SATISFACTION
ADVANCED COMPUTER EQUIPMENT (LEEDS) LTD
95 MEADOW LANE, LEEDS 11
PHONE: 0532 446960
TELEX: 335909
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
189
CHARACTER
MACHINE
Providing exactly the right facilities for different
applications can be a real problem when a system is as
versatile as the 380Z.
Take, for example, screen line length. Not only do
different users have different needs; so too do individual users.
They might welcome forty character clarity for
presentation, display, and control applications; but they also
want eighty character capacity, because word processing,
some programming languages, and many general-purpose
applications demand it.
So weve developed Varitext — to provide both, on the
same machine.
Varitext means that the 380Z user can always choose
the line length best suited to the application. It gives access
to a growing range of 80 character software without losing
all those well-established and popular 40 character
applications. It makes the 380Z equally effective as a
computer and a word processor. It lets programmers use the
character mode with which they are
familiar -or which languages like ALGOL,
FORTRAN, and PASCAL really need.
And it improves the quality of our already exceptional graphics,
by offering a smaller character size for neater annotation.
But the Varitext option goes a great deal further than
that. We also saw it as the opportunity for a major
enhancement of the 380Z’s screen handling capabilities.
So we added:
L an 8 x 10 dot matrix, to further refine the character set ;
□ an additional set of 128 user-definable characters;
r I reverse video, underlining, and selective character dimming;
□ smooth scrolling and faster screen filling;
□ user defined windowing (and independent scrolling)
of screen areas;
L audible tone generation (option)
And all that, we believe, makes the 380Z’s screen
handling the best on the market.
The Varitext option is available with new systems
or as a user-installable enhancement
to existing 380Z systems. Contact
our Sales Office for details.
RESEARCH MACHINES
I MICROCOMPUTER SYSTEMS I
RESEARCH MACHINES LTD Mill Street, Oxford 0X2 OBW, Tel: (0865) 49866
188
• Circle No. 267
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
WHEN IT COMES
TO MICROC OMPUTER
SOFTWARE ■■■
WE WROTE
¥HE BOOK I
How do you stay up-to-the-minute with
the rapidly changing world of microcomputer
software? Get the Lifeboat Catalogue.
The latest innovations The new
Lifeboat Catalogue is packed with the latest
state-of-the-art software. And if we publish a
new program after the latest catalogue has
gone to press, we enclose a flash bulletin in
your copy.
The greatest selection
Because Lifeboat is the world's largest
publisher of microcomputer software,
our catalogue offers you the greatest selection of
programs for business, professional and personal use. Our
more than 200 programs range from the integrated
accounting and professional practice systems to office
tools for book-keepers and secretaries to sophisticated
tools for programmers. Included are business systems,
word processors, programming languages, database
management systems, application tools and advanced
system utilities.
We specialise in software that runs on most small
business computers. Our more than 60 media formats,
including floppy disks, data cartridges, magnetic tape and
disk cartridges, support well over 100 different types of
computer.
Get full service We give the crucial dimension
of after-sales service and full support to everything we sell.
That includes:
• An update service for software and documentation.
• Telephone, telex and mail-order services in the London
office and at overseas offices in the United States, France,
Switzerland, West Germany and Japan.
• Subscriptions to Lifelines™ the monthly magazine that
offers comparative reviews, tips, techniques, identified
bugs and updates that keep you abreast of change.
Get It now Lifeboat
now serves tens of thousands
of satisfied customers with our breadth of up-to-date,fully
tested, fully supported and competitively priced software.
You may not need all we offer, but we offer just
what you need. After all, we wrote the book.
lifeboat Associates
World's foremost software source
I Mail coupon to: Lifeboat Associates
PO Box 1 25, London WC2H 9LU or call 0 1 -836 9028
□ Please send me a free lifeboat catalogue.
Name
Title
Company
Address
Postcode
n
Copyright © 1 98 1 , by Lifeboat Associates.
Lifeboat Worldwide offers you the world's largest library of software. Contact your nearest dealer of Lifeboat.
USA Lifeboat Associates 1651 Third Ave New York NY 10028 Tei (212) 860-0300 Telex 640693 (LBSOFT NYK) TWX 710 581-2524 JAPAN Lifeboat In c. OK Bldg 5F 1-2-8 Shiba-Daimon Minato-ku
Tokyo 105 Japan Tel 03-437-3901 Telex 2423296 (LBJTYOl ENGLAND Lifeboat Associates Ltd PO Box 125 London WC2H 9LU England Tel 01-836 9 028 Telex 893709 (LBSOFTGJ
SWITZERLAND Lifeboat Associates GmbH Hmterbergstrasse Postfach 251 6330 Cham Switzerland Tel 042-36-8686 Telex 865265 |MICO CH) W GERMANY Intersoft GmbH Schlossgartenweg 5
D-8045 Ismaning W Germany Tel 089-966-444 Telex 5213643 IISOFD) FRANCE Lifeboat Associates SARL 10 Grande Rue Charles de Gaulle 92600 Asmeres France Tel 1-733-08-04
Telex 250303 (PUBLIC X PARIS)
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
• Circle No. 266
187
COMPUTER CENTRE LTD
With the best microcomputers available
Qz commodore Ripple ][
V» day Wednesday - ’phone for latest Prices
PRINTERS SOFTWARE
Anadex
Epsom
Ricoh
Micro Modeller
Visicalc
Magic Window
NEW TO OUR RANGE
ACCESSORIES
Z-80 Soft card
Monitors
Graphics Tablet
£1 70.00 + VAT.
01 - 892 7896
01 -891 1612
TWICKENHAM COMPUTER
CENTRE LIMITED
72, Heath Road Twickenham Middlesex TW1 4BW
• Circle No. 264
FROM THE PUBLISHERS OF THE BEST
SELLING BOOKS FOR THE SINCLAIR COMES:
Not Only
But
PROGRAMS FOR THE
SINCLAIR ZX81... IK
Not
k »?v\ /Tr
16-91
Only
..does this book contain over
30 fully debugged and exciting programs,
every one of which will fit into the basic IK
memory of your Sinclair ZX81 —including
programs such as STAR WARS. LUNAR
LANDER. BLACKJACK. MINI ADVEN
TURE. DRAUGHTS, BREAKOUT.
But Also
* Detailed explanation of how
these programs were written.
* Lots of hints on how
you can write exciting
programs for your
ZX81 .
* Numerous space
saving techniques —
obviously invaluable to
the ZX81 owner.
* PEEKS and POKES
and all the other
'complicated' func-
tions are clearly
explained.
* MUCH, MUCH
MORE...
b y
o huhlo cAH
£S4MH
Understanding
Your ZX81 ROM
Plus special section: How to use machine
code routines in your BASIC programs,
by DR. I. LOGAN.
Dr Logan was the first person to disass-
emble the Sinclair ZX80 Monitor and was
the co-author of the ZX80 COMPANION.
In UNDERSTANDING YOUR ZX81 ROM
Dr. Logan illustrates all the facilities of the
ZX81 Monitor, how it works and how you
can use it in your own programs.
A special section shows you how you can
squeeze more power into your ZX81,
by using machine language and machine
language subroutines.
An essential book for those who really want
to understand the full working of the
SINCLAIR ZX81.
Published by MELBOURNE HbUSE PUBLISHERS LTD.
Send Stamped, self-addressed envelope for FREE catalogue.
THE ESSENTIAL SOFTWARE COMPANY (Visconti Ltd)
47 Brunswick Centre, London WC 1 N 1 AF (0 1 -837 3154)
□ Please rush me NOT ONLY 30 PROGRAMS FOR
□
SINCLAIR ZX81 1 K. at £6.95 each
Please also rush UNDERSTANDING
THE
ZX81 ROM
YOUR
by Dr. I. Logan at £8.95
I enclose a cheque/postal order for £ + 50p post and pack
Name
Address
186
• Circle No. 265
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
SEIKOSHA GP-80
The Smallest 80 Column Dot
Matrix Printer.
Unique printer principle. 80 col
lines. 30 cps 12 cpl. Plain Paper.
Tractor drive Weight 2.5 kg
Footprint 12.6 sq ins. Bit
addressable graphics. Parallel
interface standard. RS 232 Apple
Pet TRS 80 options
£199
EPSON MX SERIES
MX-80 £353
MX-80F/T £399
Low Noise, Low Price-
High Performance Printer
Six models. 80 cps. Bi -directional.
Parallel interface. RS232 Pet Apple
TRS 80 Video Genie Sharp
options. Letter quality Lower case
descenders. Condensed enlarged
and bold characters. Models
provide tractor roll and sheet feed -
bit image graphics - up to 15 ms
paper MX-82 £447
MX-80 II £399 MX 80 F/T-II £447 MX-100£569
ANADEX DP-9000 RANGE
DP
DP
DP
8000 £541
9000L £747
9000 £841
Fast, Versatile Printers.
Seven models Up to 15 inch paper
width. Lower case descenders.
160-220 cps bi-directional prmting.
RS232 current loop & parallel
interface. X on X off. Optional 2K
buffer. Multiple print densities.
Fast print of high-density bit
image graphics.
DP-9001 £888
DP-9500L £841
DP-9500 £935
DP-9501 £982
• Authorised distributor
• Rapid delivery
• Dealer educational & quantity discounts
• Prices exclude VAT
OKI MICROLINE 80 & 82A
Compact 80 Column Printer.
r •—
80-120 cps. Uni direction ML 82A bi-
direction). Parallel interface. Serial
jfti
ifL interface option (ML 82A standard)
n
■ ^ Pin and friction feed Tractor
characters. 80, 40, 66 and 132 cpl.
[■
mm
ML 80 £299
ML 82A £437
OKI MICROLINE 83A
Medium Speed 15" Printer.
120 cps. Bi-direction. Pm and
friction feed. Tractor option. 132 cpl
at 10 cpi 4 character sizes Graphic
characters. Parallel and serial
interface. Fast serial interface
option.
£827
TEC STARWRITER
Best-Buy Daisy Wheel Printer.
Bi-direction. 25 cps. Low cost
supplies. Standard Daisy Wheel.
Carbon and fabric ribbons Parallel
or RS232 interface. Sheet feeder
options.
Parallel Interface £1020
Serial Interface £1067
LEAR SIEGLER 310
Professional Dot Matrix
Printer.
A
High throughput. 180 cps. Bi-
( M
m 1
\ direction. Fast head travel. Space
/ 1
£
\ skip over. Lower case descenders.
\ Enlarged and bold fonts. Parallel
RS232 and current loop interfaces.
X on X off. Condensed character
option. Sound reducing option.
£1386
FROM
RIVA TERMINALS LTD.
New Head Office: Woking Business Park
Albert Drive, Woking, Surrey GU21
Tel Woking (04862) 71001 Telex 859502
Northern Office: Tel: Harrogate (0423) 503867
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
• Circle No. 263
185
Micro Technology
LIMITED O J
ARE PLEASED TO
ANNOUNCE THEIR FULL
PRICE LIST FOR MZ-80B
CP/M SOFTWARE IS NOW
AVAILABLE FOR THE
SHARP PC 3201
December prices held for yet
another month
Cheltenham House, 62 Mount Pleasant.
Tunbridge Wells, Kent.
Telephone: 0892 32116. Telex: 95441
Teclin-G.
• Circle No. 259
ip
PET EPROM PROGRAMMER
ACORN EPROM PROGRAMMERS
SUITABLE F OR ALL PET OR ACORN COMPUTERS
THE
2716/2532 ^wwvvv
MODEL > £ 46.00
PLEASE ADD
i
£1.50 P&P
The programmer Includes the software
tape for reading/programming the 271 6/
2532 Eproms. Plus a FREE programme
for making your own Pet graphics on a
2716 Eprom.
Only 6" x 4" x 2”
Pet leee Port Connector and
Cable
* Acorn Expansion Port Connector
and Cable
* Independently Powered
* Mains switch with neon indicator
light, anti surge fuse at rear.
* Zero force insertion socket.
* Indicator light for read and pro-
gramme.
* Switch select for read and pro-
gramme.
* Switch select for 2716/2532
Eproms.
* The programmer can read and
programme 2716 and 2532
Eproms.
And read any 2716/2532 pin com-
patible ROMs, ie. any Pet ROM/
Eproms.
* Softwaro control programme sup-
plied on tape.
* Instantaneous read of Eprom/
ROMs verification of data.
* Total price inc P&P £47.50.
* Remittance with order.
2532 compatible EPROMS
£10.50
2716 compatible EPROMS £4.50
Incl P&P
PET SUPERBOARD 32 fa
0MLY VpAtTxnZ
INC p&p
* This board can be plugged into
any ROM socket from $9000 to
SF000.
* You can plug up to 8 ROM/
Eproms into the board in any com-
bination of 2k or 4k. 2716/2532.
* Simply slots onto the expansion
port, no soldering or wires
required.
* Each chip is programme select-
able at a speed of 3y5.
* You can now have viscal. toolkit,
etc plugged into one socket.
* It is possible to run a 32k m/c
programme from any single ROM
location.
* The board plugs onto the expan-
sion port and is compatible with
any other add on board
* Up to 7 boards could be used
simultaneously giving a maximum
of 224k of on board ROM/Eprom.
* These boards could be used to
have seyeral languages residing
in the Pet permanently.
* Can also be plugged into the
character generator socket to run
8 different character sets.
* SAE for further details.
COMPUTER INTERFACE DESIGNS
4 Albert Road, Margate, Kent CT9 5AN. Tel: (0843) 294648.
• Circle No. 260
Ranmor Computing Ltd.
THE APPLE/WORDSTAR SPECIALISTS
WordStar
MaHMcrfe
WP WORKSHOP
V.3.0. £190.00
V.3.0. £70.00
}
£240.00
A complete disc-based self
teaching system for WordStar' and now also
for MaiMcrdC'. Learn the easy way! Complete
with comprehensive manuals £75.00 each
DOCUMENT INDEX
Expands CP/M and Wordstar
file description to 40 characters. ONLY £30.00.
NOW AVAILABLE ON
DataStar £ 190.00 SupcrSorT £110.00
SpdStar £110.00 CalcSfar £110.00
(VAT NOT INCLUDED)
SUPERBRAIN & OTHER VERSIONS AVAILABLE
Dealer Enquiries welcome
Callus NOW!
Ranmor Computing Ltd.
2 NELSON MEWS, SOUTHEND-ON-SEA, ESSEX SS1 1 AL
Tel: 0702 339262
SINCLAIR ZX81
ZX81 built + mains adaptor £60.83 (Post
£2.95 extra).
PRINTERS
Buy any of the below and get a free
interface kit and word processor program
for UK101 or Superboard. Seikosha
GP80A £199. Centronics 737 £335. OKI
Microline 80 £295. OKI Microlino 82A
£399. Epson MX70T £259. Epson
MX80T £359. Epson MX80F/T1 £399.
Epson MX80F T2 £449.
SHARP COMPUTERS
MZ80K 20K £380, 36K £394, 48K £408.
PC1211 £82. 46 sample programs for
£15. We can supply any Epson printer to
run direct from the MZ80K without i/o box
for £39 plus printer price.
VIC 20 COMPUTER
£165 with free cables to suit a normal
cassette recorder, free high definition
graphics and free machine code monitor.
3K ram £26-04. 8k ram £39-09. 16K ram
£65-17. Expander f high res 1211 M £30-
39. Vic printer £199.
5V POWER KITS
Fully stabilized 5V computer and TTL
power kits. Short circuit and over-voltage
protection 1. 5A £7-83, 3A £12-17, 6A
£20.
UK101 AND SUPER-
BOARD
UK101 with IK and free power supply
and modulator built £149. The below
accessories suit both the UK101 and
Superboard: Extra ram £2-70 per K. 16K
memory expansion complete kit £50, built
£58. 32K memory expansion kit £74, built
£82. Case £27. Cassette recorder £19.
Cesmon £22-50. Wemon £19-95.
Assembler/Editor tape £25. Word pro-
cessor program £10. Centronics inter-
face kit £10. 610 expansion board £179.
Cased minifloppy disc drive with DOS
£275. Cassette recorder £19. The below
suit only Superboard: Colour adaptor
board built £45. Guard band kit £10.
Series 1 only 30 lines x 50 characters
display expansion kit £14. UK101 display
expansion kit £14.
ACORN ATOM
Kit £120, built £150.
VIDEO GENIE £279
EG3014 Expansion box with 16K/32K
ram £189/£197. Disk drive £205. Colour
board £34-95. Parallel printer interface
£32. Monitors: EG100 white £69.
OVM9PGR green £95. Sound kit £8.
Lower case kit £26.
SWANLEY ELECTRONICS
Dept PC, 32 Goldsel Rd, Swanley, Kent BR8 8 EZ
Tel: Swanley (0322) 64851
Postage £3-50 on computers, £4-50 on printers and 45p on other orders.
Lists 27p post free. Please add VAT to all prices.
Official credit orders welcome.
Circle No. 261
• Circle No. 262
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
184
THE NEW £ t
EXCITING
TRS80
MODEL
III
i£61 9 • vat|
The Radio Shack TRS 80™ Model III is a ROM-based
computer system consisting of:
• A 12-mch screen to display results and other information
• A 65 key console keyboard for inputting programs and data
to the Computer • A Z 80 Microprocessor, the "brains” of
the system ®A Real Time Clock • Read Only Memory
(ROM) containing the Model III BASIC Language (fully
compatible with most Model I BASIC programs) • Random
Access Memory (RAM) for storage of programs and data
while the Computer is on (amount is expandable from “16K”
to "48K" . optional extra) • A Cassette Interface for long term
storage of programs and data (requires a separate cassette
recorder, optional 'extra) • A Printer Interface for hard copy
output of programs and data (requires a separate line printer,
optional extra) •Expansion area for upgrading to a disk
based system (optional/extra) •Expansion area for an RS
232 C serial communications interface (optional extra)
All these components are contained in a single moulded case,
and all are powered via one power cord
Disc Drives Kit with 2x40 Track Drives - £599 + VAT
Disc Drives Kit with 2x80 Track Drives - £729 ♦ VAT
Add £25 for Installation
YOUR ZX 80 IS NOW NO LONGER
REDUNDANT
Upgrade your ZX80 to the full animated graphics of
the ZX81 (No screen flicker)
FOR ONLY £12.95 * VAT IN KIT FORM
Works only in conjunction with NEW 8K ROM from
Sinclair (Not Included).
UP GRADE YOUR SINCLAIR TO
A 16K RAM PLUS EXPANSION
BOARD WITH 3 SLOTS
This Expansion Board is designed for more than
just memory • that's why it costs more than others!
16K £69 vat
4K £49
VAT
MICROLINE 80 £299 vat
• 80 cps Uni directional • Small size: 342 (W) x 254(D) x
108(H) mm • 160 Characters, 96 ASCII and 64 graphics • 3
Character sizes: 40. 80 or 132 chars/line • Friction
and Pin Feed • Low noise: 65 dB • Low weight: 6.5 kg
MICROLINE 82 £449 *vat
• 80 cps Bi directional logic seeking •Small size: 360 (W)
x 328(D) x 130(H) mm • 160 characters, 96 ASCII and 64
graphics, with 10 National character-set Variants. «4
Character sizes: 40. 66. 80 or 132 chars/line. •Built-in
parallel and serial interfaces. • Friction and Pin Feed
• Low noise. 65dB • Low weight: 8kg
MICROLINE 83 £779 ♦ vat
• 120 cps bi-directional logic seeking • 136 column printing
on up to 15in forms • Small size: 512 (W) - 328 (D) x 130
IHImm. • 160 characters. 96 ASCII and 64 graphics with 10
National character-set variants *3 Character spacings: 5. 10
and 16.5 Chars/in. •Built-in parallel and serial Interfaces
• Friction and Pin Feed • Low noise 65dB • Low
weight . 13 kg
* 6502 based system best value for
money on the market * Powerful 8K
Basic Fastest around * Full Qwerty
Keyboard * IK RAM Expandable to 8K
on board * Power supply and RF
Modulator on board * No Extras
needed Plug in and go * Kansas City
Tape Interface on board * Free
Sampler Tape including powerful
Disassembler and Monitor with each
Kit * If you want to learn about
Micros, but didn't know which machine
to buy then this is the machine for you
EUROPE'S FASTEST SELLING ONE BOARD COMPUTER
rOMPUKIT UK101
M Pb!U T THE MOST
'SSSF&n*
%RE E fe W,TH
Da^orf Tape 9 ’ *
KIT ONLY £99.95 + VAT
Fully Assembled - £149 - vat
NEW MONITOR IN ROM - available separately at £7.90 ♦ VAT \a^
Improved Basic function revised GARBAGE routine Allows correct use of STRING ARRAYS £4.90
This chip can be sold separately to existing Compukit and Super board users. + VAT
FOR THE COMPUKIT Assembler Editor £14.90
GAME PACKS 1) Four Games £5.00 2) Four Games £5.00 3) Three Games 8K only £5.00
Super Space Invaders (8K ) £6.50 Chequers £3.00 Realtime Clock £3.00
Case for Compukit £29.50 40 pin Expansion Jumper Cable £8.50 All Prices exclusive VAT
CASIO VL TONE
£29.95 \
i ■ i i i i i i OB
It's a new kind of musical instrument. A computer controlled
synthesiser that helps you create, play and arrange composi
tions that normally take years of musical training
WE ARE NOW STOCKING THE
| APPLE II AT REDUCED PRICES
AUTOSTART
\ EURO plus
nn £
I Getting Started APPLE II is faster, smaller, and more
powerful than its predecessors And it's more fun to use too
| because of built in features like
• BASIC The Language that Makes Programming Fun
• High Resolution Graphics (in a 54.000-Poini Array) for
Finely Detailed Displays • Sound Capability that Brings
Programs to Life • Hand Controls for Games and Other
Human-Input Applications •Internal Memory Capacity of
48K Bytes of RAM. 12K Bytes of ROM; for Big-System Per
formance in a Small Package • Eight Accessory Expansion
Slots to let the System Grow With Your Needs.
You don't need to be an expert to enioy APPLE II. It is a
complete, ready to run computer. Just connect it to a video
display and start using programs (or writing your own) the
first day You'll find that its tutorial manuals help you make it
your own personal problem solver
ACORN ATOM
UNIQUE IN CONCEPT -
THE HOME COMPUTER
THAT GROWS AS YOU DO
Fully Assembled £149 + VAT
Special features include • Full Sized Keyboard •
Assembler and Basic • Top Quality Moulded Case • High
Resolution Colour Graphics • 6502 Microprocessor
THE VIDEO GENIE SYSTEM
Ideal for small businesses, schools, colleges, homes, etc
Suitable for the experienced, inexperienced, hobbyist.
teacher, etc X. EG3000
Series
• 16K user RAM
plus extended 12K Microsoft
m BASIC in ROM • Fully TRS 80 Level
J +VAT software compatible • Huge
range of software already available • Self contained. PSU.
UHF modulator, and cassette • Simply plugs into video
monitor or UHF TV • Full expansion to disks and printer
• Absolutely complete - |ust fit into mams plug
The Video Genie is a complete computer system, requiring
only connection to a domestic 625 line TV set to be fully
operational; or if required a video monitor can be connected
to provide the best quality display. 51 key typewriter style
keyboard, which features a 10 key rollover Supplied with
the following accessories: •BASIC demonstration tape;
• Video lead; • Second cassetee lead; • Users manual;
• BASIC manual; • Beginners programming manual Write
useful programs in the BASIC computer language yourself
HITACHI
PROFESSIONAL
MONITORS
P&S £99.95
pm £149
• Reliability Solid state circuitry using an 1C and silicon
transistors ensures high reliability. • 500 lines horizontal
resolution Horizontal resolution in excess of 500 lines is
achieved in picture center • Stable picture Even played
back pictures of VTR can be displayed without jittering
• Looping video input Video input can be looped through
with built-in termination switch • External sync opera-
tion (available as option for U and C types) • Compact
construction Two monitors are mountable side by side in a
standard 19-mch rack
£79.90 * VAT
COMPUTER
POWER THA T
ONCE FILLED A ROOM
CAN NOW BE CARRIED IN YOUR POCKE T>
Delivery is added at cost Please make cheques and postal orders payable to COMPSHOP LTD., or phone your order
quoting BARCLAYCARD, ACCESS, DI NERS CLUB or AMERICAN EXPRESS number
CREDIT FACILITIES ARRANGED send S.A.E. for application form
14 Station Road, New Barnet, Hertfordshire, EN5 1QW (Close to New Barnet BR Station - Mooroate Line )
Telephone: 01-441 2922 (Sales) 01-449 6596 Telex: 298755 TELCOM G
OPEN (BARNET) — 10am - 7pm — Monday to Saturday
" Europes Largest Discount
Personal Computer Stores ”
NEW WEST END SHOWROOM:
311 Edgware Road, London W2. Telephone: 01-262 0387
OPEN (LONDON) — 10am - 6pm — Monday to Saturday
♦ IRELAND: 19 Herbert Strsst, Dublin 2. Telephone: Dublin 004156
■0 COMPSHOP USA, 1348 East Edmger Santa Ana. California Zip Code 92705
Telephone 0101 714 5472526
TELEPHONE SALES
OPEN 24 hrs. 7 days a week
01-449 6596
c<>
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
# Circle No. 258
183
(ft
L&
r'
Computers
192 HONEYPOT LANE, QUEENSBURY, STANMORE, MIDDX HA7 1EE. 01-204 7525
THE "PET" SPECIALISTS
GET THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS!
WE CAN SUPPLY ALL YOUR PET’ NEEDS AT CASH & CARRY
PRICES
8050 IM Byte Disk £755.00*
4022 Printer £357.00*
8024 Printer £975.00*
4032 40 Col. PET. £585.00*
8032 80 Col. PET £755.00*
4040 347K Disk £585.00*
OR WE CAN SUPPLY, INSTALL AND TRAIN YOUR STAFF AT THE
NORMAL PRICE WITHOUT ANY EXTRAS!!
TRY US!
YOU WILL NOT BE
DISAPPOINTED
EXT CASSETTE DECKS (INC COUNTER & SOUNDBOX) £85' £55
Printers Disk Drives Sundries
CBM 4022 & 8024 CBM 8050 Interfaces:
Centronic 779 CBM 4040 Disks:
Centronic 737 CBM 3040 Paper
Spinwriter 5510 Labels:
CBM 8026 & 8027
NOW IN STOCKI Single floppy disk drive £350*
Cl 2 Cassettes
Library Cases
(roll & tractor feed)
Dust covers
TOOL KITS (BASIC 2 & 4), SUPERCHIPS . . . AND ALL SORTS OF
OTHER CHIPS . . . UPGRADE YOUR PET EVEN MORE!!
THE "MUPETs" ARE HERE!
3 TO 8 PETs ONLY NEED 1 DISK DRIVE .
Daily demonstrations: Ring for details.
PRICES DO NOT INCLUDE VAT
PERSONAL SHOPPERS WELCOME
Phone Et Mail Orders accepted.
SOFTWARE
As well as a full range of Petsoft and Commodore Software, we
have some highly reliable "Home-Brewed" programs available.
STOCK CONTROL & INVOICING £60
(Handles up to 500 items - 32K) (180 on 16K). Stock depleted on
invoicing, search etc. Cassette, disk (&■ print option).
3000 item; 4040/8050 £125
CASH BOOK £90
Enter daily/weekly amounts — printout and totals, weekly/ monthly
analysis, totals and balances.
4032 & 8032 versions £110 & £120
STOCK TAKING for the licensing trade £240
OUTSIDE SERVICES (For Mini-Cabs etc.) £220
Sae for free software booklet
VISICALC “OZZ” Commodore Business Programs
COMPSOFT DMSV Bristol Trader, Item Et Monitor
ANAGRAM LEDGERS Superpay Word Processing.
COME AND
SEE THE NEW
(ft
£189
(inc VAT)
FULLY WORKING AND OPERATIONAL
ASK US ABOUT ALL THE ADD-ON-GOODIES
THAT GO WITH THE VIC ... !
AL L GOODS SENT SAME DA Y WHEREVER POSSIBL E
LARGES. A. E. FOR LISTS ETC.
• Circle No. 256
WE TURN ELECTRONIC
TYPEWRITERS INTO
COMPUTER PRINTERS
If you have one of these, your local typewriter/computer dealer
can arrange for the upgrade.
The discom upgrade enables most popular electronic typewriters
to communicate with any micro computer.
Interfaces fitted as standard on each machine are: RS 232,
Centronics IEEE.
4 Interfaced machines are available from your local dealer.
Please send me more details
Name
Old Manor Farm, Ashton under Hill
Worcestershire
Telephone (0386) 881962
Address
Telephone
182
• Circle No. 257
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
r
i
LIBRARY BOX with every TEN-PACK 0
**PLUS**
NEW DISK DIRECTORY & DISKWRITER
when ordering two packs or more
♦♦PLUS**
BRUSHED CHROME PAPERMATE PEN
when ordering 5 — 9 TEN-PACKS
**OR**
GOLD PLATED PAPERMATE PEN
when ordering 10+ TEN-PACKS. .
DISKING
FOR THE FINEST
MINIDISKS & ACCESSORIES
All disks are factory fresh and individually
certified 100% error-free.
DISKING INTERNATIONAL FREEPOST L1PHOOK HANTS GU30 7BR UK TEL(0428)722563
5'A" MINI DISKS
\ J
minidisks
VERBATIM The World's favourite media Datalife’ are all
double density with hub ring reinforcement.
EXC VAT
MD525 S/Sided 40 track £18.95
MD550 D/Sided 40 track £24.95
MD577 S/Sided 77 track £26.95
MD557 D/Sided 77 track £34.95
10 & 16 Hard Sector at same prices
MEMOREX The Ultimate in Memory Excellence based on
many years of experience with recording media.
EXC VAT
MEMX 1S/S S/Density £18.45
MEMX ID S/S D/Density £21.45
MEMX 2D D/S D/Density £23.95
10 & 16 Hard Sector at same prices
BASF cross-linked Oxide coating for long media life and
special lubricants minimise head wear.
BASF 1 S/S S/Density £17.95
BASF ID S/S D/Density £21.45
BASF 2D D/S D/Density £25.95
10 & 16 Hard Sector at same prices
<
DISKING SUPERLUXE DISK LIBRARY DISK DRIVE HEAD CLEANING KITS
Manufactured
exclusively for us
to our own design,
the SDL keeps
your valuable
disks flat & dust
free, while at the
same time allow-
ing you instant visual selection of any single disk The
standard SDL holds 20 disks, while the SDLX holds 28
disks. The SDL may be uprated to an SDLX retrospec-
tively.
SDL only £8.65
SDLX only £10 39
DISKING DISKMAILERS
This product also exclusively ours, is a strong plastic
envelope for mailing one. two or three disks, in safety and
comes complete with warning labels & address labels
DM only 50p
Prevent head cra-
shes and ensure
efficient error-free
operation
Enough for 26 bi-
monthly cleans &
a lot cheaper than
a service call!
CK5 ° n| y £16 50p
ALL PRICES ARE EXCLUSIVE OF VAT,
PLEASE ADD 15%
SUPERBRAIN SOFTWARE
DATAKING coming soon, will mathematically massage
any Datastar or Wordstar data file, and columnate with
report writer. Instant Sales. Nominal or Purchase ledger
or Comprehensive Sales/Purchase Reportmq for Data-
star users.
DATAKING only £49 00
DATAKING User Manual £2 50
PLASTIC LIBRARY BOXES
The genuine Egly Box that stores and protects your disks
in tens — Unbeatable — (FREE with every ten disks
ordered)
LB on, y
ATTENTION THE TRADE
Please write to us on your letter headed paper, and ask for
our special trade prices and offers.
Give your software the ultimate in presentation We can
make the SDL & SDLX in your colour PVC. with your logo
Sample plastics swatch available free by request
<
U K P&P RATES
EXC VAT
NORMAL ORDERS
DEICING FREEPOST. Liphook. Hants. GU30 7BR. England.
Discs (1-5 PACKS) each pack at 95p
Disks (6 + PACKS) each pack at 65p
SDL or SDLX
DM (each at 25p) Tens
LB
CK5
DATAKING SOFTWARE
DATAKING USER
MANUAL
at 95p
at 8 Op
at 45p
at 75p
post free
post free
URGENT ORDERS
Either post your cheque not forget-
ting to stamp it first-class, or tele-
phone your order with credit card
No., mentioning in either instance
that your order is URGENT You may
then pay FIRST CLASS POST for
your goods, if required
FIRST CLASS RATES EXC VAT
First TEN-PACK £1 80
Second & subsequent £1.30
We accept MOD orders over £50.00
in value All other customers
cheques with order please payable
to DISKING. If you are a large
establishment, and cannot raise
cheques without an invoice, please
post or telephone us your order, and
we will send a pro-forma invoice by
return, for your accounts department
to pay against.
CREDIT CARD ORDERS
We accept Barclaycard and Access
card, and make a small surcharge of
6°o. on the total order value You
may write your c/card No on your
order or telephone the order, day or
night, 365 days a year. You may
speak for as long as you like, and
don t forget to give full details of what
you wish to purchase, your credit
card number, credit card holders
name & address, and delivery or
invoice address if different
OTV
DESCRIPTION
PRICE EXC. VAT
TOTAL GOODS VALUE EXC. VAT
TOTAL DELIVERY AND INSURANCE
SUB TOTAL EXC. VAT
VAT
VALUE OF CHEQUE PAYABLE TO DISKING
£ -
£
£
£
£
Name:
Address:
PC/2/82
Tel No:
My Access/ Barclaycard* Number is:
* Please delete that which is not applicable
J
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
• Circle No. 255
181
• Uses two 64K RAMCARDS and RAMDISC software to simulate a
disc drive.
• Appears exactly like a real disc drive with a slot number given by the
slot into which the lower 64K RAMCARD is plugged.
• Allows use of any DOS 3.3 command.
• Provides up to two thousand per cent (2000%) increase in speed
during disc intensive computing.
• Compatible with all existing software which uses DOS 3.3
• No controller required.
• Saves on disc head and drive wear.
• One single real disc drive only is required for saving finished files.
• Up to four 64K RAMCARDS may be plugged into any one Apple
giving 2 RAMDISC drives.
• The 64K RAMCARDS may be used directly as banked memory in
other applications.
The RAMDISC package ot two 64K RAMCARDS and RAMDISC software costs C345.
Dealer enquiries invited.
Please add 15% VAT.
Merton Electronics 8 Rutlish Road London SW19 Telephone 01-543 3533
• Circle No. 251
XEROX 820
The desk top Micro Computer
5 l A" Twin Floppy £1,750 Maintained by Xerox 1600
8" Twin Floppy £2,245 engineers in U.K.
•General""
Accounting
Software
• SuperCalc
• Xerox Word
Processing
• Word Star
• Mail Merge
• Teach
• Superspell
• Payroll
• Sales
• Stock Control
• Order
Processing
• Production
Control
Languages
• M Basic
• Pascal/MT +
• CIS Cobol
• C Basic 2
Alphin Computers Limited
30-32 Priory Buildings. Union Street, Oldham,
Greater Manchester. Telephone: 061-633 1607
THIS IS FRED McNASH
WHO HAS NO CASH
HE CAN’T COMPUTE
WITHOUT SOME LOOT
WITH THINGS SO EXPENSIVE
HE FEELS VERY PENSIVE
BUT DON’T BE SAD
IT’S NOT THAT BAD
WE’VE MANY PERMS
OF EASY TERMS
APPLY FOR QUOTATION
FOR YOUR EDIFICATION
Avon Computer Rentals
IFREEPOST 1 THORNBURY BRISTOL BS12 1BI
• Circle No. 252
COMMODORE APPLE
ATARI VIC TEXAS
BBC? SHARP NEC
SUPERBRAIN OKI
TELEVIDEO ACORN
HEWLETT PACKARD
TEAC SIEMENS
NOT HERE JUST ASK
INTEGREX PERTEC
EPSON CENTRONICS
OKI MICROLINE OUME
OLYMPIA HONEYWELL
NEC SPINWRITER
P TIGER DIABLO
KEITHLEY HITACHI
SHORT&LONG RENTAL
PERSONAL LOAN
HIRE PURCHASE
COMPUSENSE
THE 6800/6809
6800 TAPE SOFTWARE
CST003 SWTPC 8K BASIC V2.3 £15.00
CST0 12 6800 Disassembler £10.00
CST014 6800 Text Editor £20.00
CST015 6800 Assembler £20.00
CST016 6800 Text Processor £25.00
CST017 6800 Relocator £16.00
6809 TAPE SOFTWARE
CST018 8K BASIC £22.00
EDITOR/ASSEMBLER T.B.A.
DISK SOFTWARE
CSC001 SUPER SLEUTH Disassembler
for 6800/6801/6805/6502
(Includes source code) £70.00
CSC002 Super Sleuth for 8080. Z80.
8085 £70.00
CSC003 Cross Assembler Macro Sets
for TSC 6809 Macro Assembler
6800/6801 £35.00
6805 £35.00
Z80 £35.00
8080/8085 £35.00
CSC004 TABULA RASA. Financial
Modeller for 6809 £120.00
Wo stock all the standard TSC/
SWTPC software packages,
including BASIC FLEX etc.
Please contact us for full
details.
MEMORY
MM-32 32K bytes, low power
RAM £340.00
S-32 ROM/RAM Card £120.00
PRINTED CIRCUIT BOARDS
CSH001 SWTPC SS50
Motherboard £27.00
CSH002 SWTPC 6800 CPU
board £15.00
CSH003 6800 CPU assembled
£85.00
CSH005 SWTPC Parallel Inter-
face £10.00
SPECIALISTS
CSH006 SWTPC Serial Inter-
face £10.00
CSH008 SWTPC 5" disk con-
troller £37.00
CSH009 6800/6809 Convertor
£13.50
CSH010 16K Static RAM
(2114) £40.00
CSH011 32K Static RAM
(2114) £65.00
PROTO-1 SS50 Prototyping
board £15.00
PROTO-2 SS30 Prototyping
board £10.00
FLOPPY DISKS
DISK-5 OOP 5" disks (ten)
£22.00
DISK-8 ODP 8" disks (ten)
£38.00
Diskettes are soft sectored
double density.
KITS
Note prices exclude carriage
SS-KIT SWTPC 6800/9
Chassis £99.00
power supply/mother-
board
SS-09 As above assembled
£175.00
DISKS/TERMINALS
Note prices exclude carriage
DD-01 Twin 40 track, controller
£580.00
DD-02 Twin 80 track, controller
£690.00
T-910c TVI 910 terminal
£480.00
CPU/INTERFACE
MP-09 6809 Processor
£ 210.00
MP-S Serial Interface £55.00
MP-la Parallel Interface
£55.00
All prices are quoted exclusive of VAT. Prices may vary without notice.
Carriage is included, except as noted above. Carriage by TNT on larger items
recommended.
P.O. BOX 169, PALMERS GREEN, LONDON N13 4HT
01-882 0681
180
• Circle No. 253
• Circle No. 254
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
Bringing computers
to everyday life
At The Computer Fair you can see and compare an enormous
range of personal and home computers. Find out what they can do
and which one would suit you best. Talk to the experts and discover
for yourself how much - or how little - you need to spend. Choose
from an amazing abundance of software programs and packages,
cassette units, VDU terminals and scores of computer games.
Swap your views and know-how with hundreds of other home
computer enthusiasts - and find out a whole lot more from
computer professionals.
Plus-The Micro Mouse
Contest.
Come and watch the
incredible ingenuity of
computer controlled
“mice” and how they find
their way (or not!) to the
centre of a maze. The
knockout heats and the
Euromicro British Final
can all be seen at The
Computer Fair!
Bring the whole family -
don’t miss this
opportunity of bringing
computers into your
everyday life.
fb
INFORMATION QO
TECHNOLOGY ClZ
child
(omputer
Fairr
Person^ computers
Home computing
Smatt business systems
■ Cut this coupon and
exchange for half-price
ticket at the door.
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
179
April 23-25,1982
Earls Court, London
Friday & Saturday: 1 0am - 6pm
Sunday: 10am -5pm
Admission £2.00 adults
£1 .00 children under 1 6.
(omputer
fair
Personal computers
Home computing
Small business systems
The computer is with us and soon to be as familiar in the home as your
television, video or hi-fi. But much more versatile!
A home computer can be the family’s resident teacher, accountant, home
economics expert, memory bank and endless source of amusement! It can do
anything you programme it to do - from teaching mathematics to the children or
computing the most economic use of household fuels for yourself, as well as
providing hours of fun on a rainy afternoon. Most important of all, the home
computer will teach you and your •
family about computers - and this . \ •. \ " *’
is the technology that your children
are growing up with.
In the office, the personal
computer is rapidly replacing the
obsolete mound of box files,
adding machines and notebooks
on thousands of desk tops.
Microchip streamlining means
increased efficiency in hundreds
of different fields.
/ omputer
B W" met computers
Hall i
adult
_ JM Small business systems
■ Cut this coupon and
exchange for half-price
ticket at the door.
HALF PRICE
ADMISSION
VOUCHERS
178
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
End of file
The second in our series of war games from The War Machine, a simulation of Second
World War tank battles on the Eastern Front is reviewed by Graeme Mclver.
ONE OF the more exciting developments in
simulation gaming in recent months has
been the application of artificial intel-
ligence techniques to combat games, so
that a human player can compete on
equal terms against a computer
opponent. Such games require larger and
more detailed maps than can be simulated
on a VDU, and the player will find that he
has to acquire some knowledge of mili-
tary tactics in order to stand up to the
forces thrown against him by the
machine.
A number of problems remain to be
solved in this area, including the construc-
tion of artificial-intelligence algorithms
for this new type of game-system and the
compression of large amounts of data into
limited memory. The initial impressions
of Tanktics, recently made available in
this country, suggest that some of these
problems have been solved although it is
too early to evaluate the level of sophisti-
cation of the program. The game is avail-
able for the Pet, TRS-80, Apple and
Atari.
Computer combat
Tanktics is a solo board wargame com-
plete with map and counters that is played
on a computer. It is published with two of
Avalon Hill’s standard-quality map-
boards and 260 counters.
The game involves individual tanks of
the Second World War, operating on the
Eastern Front. Up to 16 of them are
Russian and eight are German. The com-
puter handles the Russian tanks and
resolves sighting, combat and movement.
The system takes range and terrain into
account and, for combat, facing. All
details of the 788 hexagons in the grid
overlaid on the map are stored within the
computer. Eight different kinds of Ger-
man and five types of Russian tanks and
anti-tank guns are available. Each combi-
nation has its own counter, showing a
pleasant aerial view. Allowance is made
for differing armour thickness, gun pene-
tration and speed, so the player can
choose the different types of tank neces-
sary to even up any play-balance prob-
lems.
The game plays very easily. It is a relief
not to have to count hexes, shake dice and
measure line of sight. Not having any idea
where the enemy is until you can see him
is fun as well. The input system used is
very easy to pick up, and the speed of
running is impressive.
There are some minor criticisms to be
made of the game's performance during
play. There is no line of sight as such —
distance, terrain of spotter and target, and
the terrain in between are taken into
account, together with a random factor.
There is no blocking terrain for a player to
use to hide from an enemy unit. While this
is much better than the rigid LOS/range
rules common to most tactical board
games, it is still a detr action from realism
Conclusions
Tanktics is an enjoyable game that plays very
well and gives the impression of realism.
• Whether Tanktics will be a game you will
play again and again probably depends on
how much of a "tankie" you are.
• Ratings:
Physical quality Good
Perceived complexity Fair
Subject complexity Good
Realism Good
Play balance Excellent
Overall Good
of the game. The reason for this lack of an
LOS rule is doubtless the difficulty of
doing this for a hex map with only 16K.
Indeed the TRS-80 version is loaded in
two segments.
Appraisal of realism
The only indications of the scale of the
game are that no stacking is allowed and
the road looks about one-third of a hex
wide. Rightly, no information is given on
combat strengths, apart from describing
how good the armour and guns are, or
how combat is resolved. This is another
plus in comparison with a non-computer
game, but it does make the appraisal of
realism difficult.
The five scenarios fall into two types:
reaching and occupying a target hex —
which is randomly chosen — or defending
the hex. If the computer is attacking, it
will move the tanks towards the objective,
usually in two separate formations. It will
engage targets met on the way, both over-
running and firing when its units are at a
reasonable range. It will deviate from the
line of advance for combat but only
slightly — by a few hexes. On the whole,
the computer plays a reasonable game.
There is one small tactical mistake which
it makes in some situations, but one that is
probably historically accurate. I do not
intend to reveal it to potential players.
In the defensive area, the computer is
equipped with 76mm. anti-tank guns, so
there is no question of manoeuvre. There
is a program bug on the TRS-80 version.
As given, the program will give an error if
the player uses more than four tanks, but
the bug is easily corrected by changing the
dimensioning of the variable in line 40
from (16,8) to (16,16). [T]
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
177
can help you increase
your profits by 50 % !
Don’t believe it? This is what the CBI say in their booklet The Will to Win’:
"Company Profitability is critical for new investment and must be restored. In
addition to Government action listed above*, all levels of management must
be involved in their company's short term and medium term profit plan, and
think more in current cost accounting terms when making their judgements. "
‘These actions referred to Government controlled costs, exchange rate and public spending
FACT Company Profitability declined from 13% in 1960 to 9% in 1970 and
2/3% in 1980 when measured in real terms.
Decision Modeller is a tool for all managers to use in their business based
on the 1980’s microcomputer technology. How many managers know the
size of improvement in profits which can result from 1 %on Prices plus 1 % on
Volume of Output? And
* with 1 % off Spending plus 1 % reduced Material Waste
* with 2% on Employee efficiency
* with 3% off debtors days
* with 5% on Stock Turnover
Often the improvement in profitability can be over 40% and can be as high as
70% depending on the capital intensity of a business.
Decision Modeller shows you exactly how your company can improve
profitability.
Can you afford to ignore Decision Modeller?
For details call ACT Micro-
soft on 021-454 8585, or in
the London area: Intel-
ligence UK Ltd: 01-947 9846
To: ACT Microsoft Ltd., ACT House, 111 Hagley Road, Birmingham ■
B16 8LB I
Please send me details of Decision Modeller.
NAME: |
ADDRESS: |
Postcode: I
From the people who brought you MicroModeller, the No.1 financial planning package for microcomputers.
Decision Modeller costs £525 and runs on the Apple II computer in conjunction with MicroModeller.
• Circle No. 250
Write or telephone for further information to:
k A if'DSW — 1 Micro-Facilities Limited
I 129 High St, Hampton Hill
FACILITIES
A member of the MF Group of companies
Middlesex TW12 1NJ
01-979 4546 and 01-941 1197
Please Tick As Applicable
| r“~ | Please Send Me Further Details
1 I 1 Please Have Your Consultant Call Me
Micro-Facilities Ltd, FREEPOST,
Hampton, Middlesex, TW12 1BR
Tel: 01-941 1 197 or 01-979 4546
Name Mr/Mrs/Miss .
Address
Horses for courses they say. We could not
agree more. . , .
That is why we have a flexible stable
when it comes to helping businessmen choose a
micro-computer system.
We need to know something of your
business before we can advise you on making the
final selection of the relevant system.
Once we have done that we move very quickly:-
We will provide a full demonstration,
and if off the shelf business packages do not meet
your particular needs, we will design special
computer systems that do.
We will train you and your staff.
We will arrange finance — hire purchase
or leasing.
We give a full after sales advisory service,
and naturally, we offer rapid servicing and
comprehensive maintenance contracts.
The best way for us to demonstrate our
capabilities, is for you to tell us about your
business needs.
One thing is certain.
It is odds-on that between us we will
arrive at the best bet.
Post Code
Tel
FREEPOST -NO
STAMP NEEDED
P.C 03-DR
THE MUNCHER — ultra fast version of popu-
lar PUCK MAN for VG/TRS80. No joystick
required. Cassette £5. Steve Morris, 44 Park
Road. Hull HU5 2TA.
ACORN ATOM. 12K RAM. 12K ROM. P.S.U.
leads, etc. £190. Tel: Cambridge 811119.
FOR SALE. Compucolour II minicomputer 16K
RAM floppy disc drive, complete with VDU full
colour display. £500 firm. Call: 734 5953.
11am-8pm.
MICRO INPUT/ OUTPUT DEVELOPMENT
TOOL. A valuable aid for developing software
for interfacing PET or ATOM to outside World.
Ideal for beginner wishing to learn how to input
and output through their computer user port.
Data input is via 8 switches and data output is
shown by 8 leds. Fully buffered and wired for
immediate connection to user port. Overlays
supplied to allow user to define function of each
bit used in an application. Complete documen-
tation supplied with examples to get you
started. State which system when ordering.
£27. Send P.O. or cheques to J. S. Frampton,
19 Brook Croft, Marston Green, Birmingham
B37 7EB.
TRS-80 LEVEL II 16K. Numeric keypad soft-
ware includes instruction course, parts I & II. T-
short J and flight simulator. All hardly used.
£325. Phone: 0438 811082 (Datchworth. Hert-
fordshire).
TRS-80 L2 16K, manuals, books, magazines,
cassettes. £290. Phone: Ray 0924-272480
(day), 0924-251797 (evening).
NASCOM-2 — Nas-sys 3, Toolkit. Debug,
Zeap. Naspen t 32K RAM * tapes including
Pascal, Forth etc. Offers £350 1 . Stratford-
upon-Avon 69796.
APPLE II PLUS (48K) and over £1 00 programs
including games. £700 ono. Tel: (05385) 2648
evenings.
APPLE SYSTEM ITT 2020 for sale. 64K RAM
and FP BASIC in ROM. 2 x disc drives and
controller, Pascal language card, disks and
documentation. ITT Pascal graphics adaption.
Silentype printer, card and docs. May split.
£1.200 ono. Tel: Midhurst (044 284) 4811.
WANTED — PET 3000 SERIES, and/or disk
unit and printer. Bournemouth 293650.
MAKE YOUR PERSONAL COMPUTER PAY
ITS WAY TODAY. International literary agency
is looking for you. Can you write original pro-
grams for the ZX81 . VIC 20. TRS 80. Atari 400,
BBC Computer. PC 1211. Tangerine and MZ
80K?
Then you can write a book that we can sell
worldwide.
Send your suggestions for programs in con-
fidence to box 000 stating which computer you
have and how many programs you have writ-
ten.
If you don't have enough for a book, don’t
worry, we will also market individual programs.
We specialise in marketing creative computer
programs to creative publishers.
WANTED program for Sharp 48K (cassette) to
speed up drawing 2-dimension plans with nor-
mal Sharp graphics (not high res.). Particularly
lines and diagonals. Must Print/P. Kinoulton
(09497) 255 evenings/weekends.
NASCOM SOFTWARE: Assemblers, debug,
word processors, front panel, business soft-
ware in various cassette. D DOS & DCS DOS
versions. SAE Mr. P. Watson, 101 Village
Road. Bromham. Bedford.
Buyers’ Guide
Peach Data Services Ltd
0283-44968
Personal Computers Ltd
01-626-8121/2/3
PK Microsystems Ltd
01-839-3143
P R Daly & Co Ltd
01-868-7284
Quickmet Software
Development
0202-888217
Research Resources Ltd
07073-26633
Rockliff Brothers Ltd
051-521-5830
SA Systems
Newbury 45813
Salmon Microcomputing
0325-721368
SBD Consultants Ltd
01-940-5194
Selven Ltd
0376-40900
Sheffield MIS Ltd
0742-20224
SMG Microcomputers
Gravesend 55813
Software Aids International
Ltd
01-204-9396
Software Architects Ltd
01-734-9402
Solitaire Ltd
04252-71448
Southdata Ltd
01-994-6477
Stage One Computers Ltd
0202-23570
Stratheden Ltd
0624-26668/25639
Style Systems Ltd
0254-71638
SWTPC Ltd
01-491-7507
5 Horinglow Street
Burton on Trent DEI 4 1NJ
194-200 Bishopsgate
London EC4M 4NR
46-47 Pall Mall
London SW1Y 5JG
Butts Mead, High Road, Eastcote
Pinner Middlesex HA5 2EY
57 Leigh Road, Wimborne
Dorset BH21 1AE
40 Stonehills
Welwyn Garden City
Hertfordshire
2 Rumford Street
Liverpool L2 8SZ
Allington Lodge, Round End
Newbury, Berkshire RG14 6PL
PO Box 26 Croft-on-Tees
Darlington DL2 2TN
15 Jocellyn Road
Richmond, Surrey TW9 2TJ
West House Chambers
3 Sandpit Road
Braintree, Essex CM7 7LY
77 Hallam Grange Rise
Sheffield S10 4BE
39 Windmill Street
Gravesend, Kent
14 Chapman Crescent Kenton
Harrow, Middlesex
34/35 Dean Street
London W1V 5AP
Highcliff House 411-413
Lymington Road
Highcliff, Dorset BH23 5EN
10 Barley Mow Passage
London W4
6 Criterion Arcade
Old Christchurch Road
Bournemouth
Exchange House, 54 Athol Street
Douglas, Isle of Man
28a Railway Road
Darwen, Lancashire BB3 2RG
38 Dover Street
London W1
Systematics International Ltd
0268-284601
T & V Johnson Ltd
0276-62506
T W Computers Ltd
061-456-8187
Taylor Micro Systems
021-358-2436
Essex House, Cherrydown
Basildon, Essex
165 London Road
Camberley, Surrey GUI 5 3JS
293 London Road
Hazel Grove, Stockport
Greater Manchester
Hamstead Industrial Estate
Old Walsall Road, Great Barr
Birmingham
The Alphabet Company 2 Whitefriars Way, Sandwich
Brian Homewood
Mike Hardwick
I Metcalf
M Taylor
S A Trinder
S J A Still
Susan Ben-David
R Crowther
R A Coates
David Bull
N Hewitt
P Bridson
R Horman
R Young
T Johnson
C A Taylor
A L Minter
03046-7209
Tridata Micros Ltd
021-622-6085
U-Microcomputers Ltd
Warrington 54117
Verwood Systems
0788-87629
Vlasak Electronics Ltd
0494-448633
Kent CT13 9 AD
Smithfield House, Digbeth A Plackowski
Birmingham B5 6BS
Winstanly Industrial Estate
Long Lane, Warrington
Cheshire
Verwood House, High Street N Howard
West Haddon, Northamptonshire
Vlasak House, Stuart Road Paul Vlasak
High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire
Xitan Systems Ltd
0703-38740
HP 13 6AG
23 Cumberland Place
Southampton
□
174
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
Buyers’ Guide
James C Steedman
0903-814923
Keen Computers
0602-583254
Kesho Systems
041-226-4236
L & J Computers
01-204-7525
Landsler Software
01-399-2476/7
Liveport Ltd
0736-798157
Logma Systems Design
Bolton 389854
Ludhouse Ltd
01-679-4321
Map Computer Systems Ltd
01-633-3084/5
Median-Tec
0734-596842
Metrotech
0895-58111
Micro Computation
01-882-5104
Micro Focus
Microact Ltd
021-455-8585
Microbits
0734-792021
Microcomputer Applications
0734-470425
Microcomputer BM
01-981-3993
Microdigital Ltd
051-227-2535
Microgems Software
0602-275559
Microland
0723-70715
Micromedia Systems
Newport 59276/7
Micropute
0625-612818
Microsense
0442-41191/48151
Microtek
0689-26803
Minicomputer CS Ltd
0494-448686
MMS Computer Systems
0234-40601
P J Norris Computer
Applications
053-183-428
18 Manor Road, Upper Beeding
Steyning, Sussex
5b The Poultry
Nottingham
72 Waterloo Street
Glasgow G2
3 Crundale Avenue
Kingsbury, London NW9 9PJ
29a Tolworth Park Road
Surbiton, Surrey KT6 7RL
The Ivory Works
St Ives, Cornwall
2-10 Bradshawgate
Bolton, Lancashire
2-6 Marian Road
London SW16 5HR
Belgrave Industrial Estate
Honeywell Lane, Oldham
OL8 2LY
120 Oxford Road
Reading, Berkshire
Waterloo Road
Uxbridge, Middlesex UB8 2YW
8 Station Parade
Southgate, London N14
c/o Lifeboat Associates
32 Neal Street, London WC2
Radclyffe House
66-68 Hagley Road, Edgbaston
Birmingham
Barford House, Shute End
Wokingham
Berkshire RG11 1BJ
1 1 Riverside Court
Caversham, Reading
Berkshire
4 Morgan Street
London E3 5AB
25 Brunswick Street
Liverpool L2 OBJ
32 Buckingham Avenue
Hucknall, Nottinghamshire
17 Victoria Road
Scarborough, North Yorkshire
Seymour House
14-16 Chepstow Road
Newport, Gwent
Communique Place
9 Prestbury Place
Macclesfield, Cheshire
Finway Road
Hemel Hempstead
Hertfordshire
50 Chislehurst Road
Orpington, Kent
Pilot Trading Estate
163 West Wycombe Road
High Wycombe
Buckinghamshire
26 Mill Street
Bedford
Rochester House, Canon Fro me
Ledbury, Herefordshire
HR8 2TG
Bob Ellis
Angus Nial
Jack Goodman
E Landsler
M Ward
Denis Thomson
Graham Jones
P J Norris
Padmede Computer
025-671-2434
PCL Software Ltd
021-552-6126
Services 1 12/1 16 High Street
Odiham, Basingstoke
Hampshire
146-150 Birchfield Lane
Oldbury, War ley
West Midlands B69 2AY
John Packwood
P Hemmings
COMMODORE PET 8032 with 4040 disk
drive, 8027 Daisywheel printer and word pro-
cessor, four months old, as new, cancelled
project, £2,100 ono. Tel: 01-954 3707.
RS232/V24 TERMINALS for sale. Olivetti
ASR teleprinters, £50-£75, working or non-
working for spares. Newbury 7004 VDU, work-
inq, £100. Teletype 1 10 cps punch, £50. Also
keyboards. Haden Ltd. Tel: 01-387 1288, ext.
115.
TRS-80, 4K, Level 1 software, 3 real time
moving graphic games on cassette, £3. L. N.
Hard, Schaktsg.16, 26700 Bjuv, Sweden.
TELETYPE 43 computer printer with key-
board, good quality print, near new, £450 ono.
To include cable, spare ribbon, paper roll
holder, 11" x 8V2" fan-fold paper. Tel: 01-943
2040/01-399 9022 (Surbiton, Surrey).
SHARP MZ-80K, 48K, as new, includes toolkit,
Pascal, assembler, m/c tape, Asteroids,
Invaders, Backgammon. Othello, Pontoon and
many others. Marriage forces reluctant sale,
£450. Tel: (0245) 73057.
ZX-81 PROGRAMS. 21 for IK or 6 for 16K, £5
each cassette. Craig Cockburn, 49 Doune
Road, Dunblane. Perthshire.
DATA DYNAMICS 390 COMPUTER TERMI-
NAL. Regularly serviced by Extel, cost approx
£1,000, accept £250. Williams Ltd, 15 Brown
Street, Salisbury, Wilts. Tel: (0722) 5388.
APPLE II PLUS 48K. Disk drive, Hitachi moni-
tor. disks, games, serial interface card, Tele-
type ASR33, low price to sell complete, £890.
Tel: Reading 479067.
ZX-81 — STAR-TREK. Full 16K program,
menu driven, short and long range scans,
weapons option, hours of entertainment with
every game. £4 per cassette from Angela, 3
Avon Road, Charfield, Wotton-under-Edge,
Glos.
GAMES FOR CBM 8032. HANGMAN — a
game with words. HED-BANGER — an
infuriating game with numbers. Both games on
one cassette for £5.75 incl. J. Bottoms, 17
Wreford Close, St. Columb Major, Cornwall
TR9 6SE.
ZX 81 (16K RAM) EDUCATIONAL SOFT-
WARE. We make learning fun by incorporating
jackpot games with moving graphics into all
programs plus a printed certificate. Six pro-
grams on each cassette: JUNIOR ENGLISH 1 :
“MEANINGS 1 ”, “MEANINGS 2”, “PARTS OF
SPEECH", “PROVERBS”, “SIMILES”, “ANA-
GRAMS”. JUNIOR ENGLISH 2: "IDIOMS”,
“OPPOSITES 1", "OPPOSITES 2", “GROUP
TERMS”, “ODD WORD OUT”, “SPEL-
LINGS". JUNIOR MATHS 1: “LONG MULTI-
PLICATION”, ‘LONG DIVISION”, “HCF",
“LCM", “FRACTIONS 1". “FRACTIONS 2”.
JUNIOR MATHS 2 : “‘AREAS’\
“PERIMETERS”, “SIMPLE EQUATIONS",
“PERCENTAGES". “SETS”, “VENN DIA-
GRAMS”. £4.50 per cassette. Rose
Cassettes, 148 Widney Lane, Solihull, West
Midlands B91 3LH.
PRINTER? — Buy my ASR33 Teletype-
Printer, terminal and cheap program, store on
paper tape, all in one unit. Excellent condition,
only £99. Tel: (0494) 25938.
APPLE II EUROPLUS with 3.3 DOS drive and
modulator, unused for anticipated project,
£880. Chalfont St. Giles 2418 between 6-8pm.
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
173
ZX81 16K GOLF. The first adult sports adven-
ture. Forget dwarfs and dragons, have an
adventure on the golf course instead. Can you
shoot a good score or will you get caught by the
pitfalls? Cassette £5. ZX81 16K Funfair. Test
your skill in eight different games. What prize
can you win? Cassette £5. Both on one cas-
sette £8. M. Meineck, 41 Church Lane, Leeds
LS15 8BB.
TANGERINE — square-selectable reverse
video modification for any machine; scrolls
(unlike graphics); three chips — cost about
75p. My design, with notes, £2. J. P. Gilliver, 7
Leaside, Clifton Gardens, Folkestone CT20
25D.
CENTRONICS MICROPRINTER Pi ... 20
40 or 80 cpI, 150 cps. £150 ono. Tel: 01-393
7989.
PET (16K) Program Pack, Grand Prix, Star
Trek, Pools Prediction. Cassette £5 (SAE), 21
Cheriton Field, Fulwood, Preston, Lancashire.
PET 32K, new ROM with Tensai cassette
deck, manuals, dustcover and large quantity of
software, £500. Computhink 400K disk drive,
almost new, £500. Commodore 3022 Tractor
Drive Printer, £325. C. J. Blunt, Ashtead
(03722) 74909.
GIVEAWAY: Sorcerer 32K, 630K, double disc
unit, Prof, monitor, Si 00 Bus with 5 slots plus
disc controller, fans fitted. Extensive software
included in price. Details by phone. Worth
£3800 without software. Offers £1 ,600. Phone:
0222 568286 or 0222 27336.
TRS80 48K Green Screen, £495. Also Disk
Drives £295. Ring 401 445 0745.
TIPPED-ON A4 PAPER. 900 continuous
sheets, plain white. £30 ono. Bristol 502008.
TIPPED-ON ENVELOPES. White 4.1/8" x
9V 2 ". 2 boxes x 1000. Unopened. £35 each
ono. Bristol 502008.
CENTRONICS 779 matric printer with Tractor
Drive, offers around £450. Datasure Ltd. Tel-
(0702) 339428, ext. 5.
ZX-80. Both ROMs. 16K RAM, £120, much
software and books, including Chess and
Invaders, £30. Tel: (0382) 77207.
SINCLAIR, 16K, ZX81, Basic Manual, mains
adaptor, games, cassettes, recorder, £125
Tel: (0258) 54653.
UK 101, 8K, Newmon cased, 300/600 band
rate cassette, draughts, R.T.C., assembler,
etc., £210 inc. P&P and insurance. Paul
Broderick, 1 1 Ramsey Road, St. Ives, Hunting-
don, Cambs.
NASCOM 1, £100. NAS-SYS + T4, etc Tel-
(0532) 707600 after 6pm.
NASCOM 1 TO Si 00 BUS + 8K static RAM
card. £60. Tel: (0532) 707600 after 6pm.
RUBIK’S CUBE program for 32K Apple/ITT
2020. 15-colour high resolution 3-D display,
cassette • full documentation, £12. Also
Supertrek, £8. Both for £17. State machine.
Graham Auty, 10 Salisbury View, Leeds LSI 2
2AU.
Clenlo Computing Services
15 South View Court
01-653-6028
The Woodlands, Beulah Hill
London SE19
Commodore BM (U.K.) Ltd
818 Leigh Road
A Gould
Slough 74111
Slough Industrial Estate
Slough Berkshire
Compfer Ltd
Preston Computer Centre
0772-57684
6 Victoria Buildings, Fishergate
Preston Lancashire
CPS (Data Systems) Ltd
Arden House, 1102 Warwick Road
021-707-3866
Acocks Green
Birmingham B27 6BH
Compsoft Ltd
Great Tangley, Manor Farm
0483-39665/505918
Wonersh, Guildford, Surrey
Comput-A-Crop
32 Whitworth Road
Jenny Wilson
01-771-0867
London SE25 6XH
CPR Systems Ltd
37-39 Ipswich Street
Roger Taylor
04492-5488
Stowmarket, Suffolk
Computech Systems
168 Finchley Road
Laurence Payne
01-794-0202
London NW3
CSM Ltd
Refuge Assurance House
Peter Mart
021-382-4171
Sutton New Road, Birmingham
Cyderpress Ltd
2 Church Lane
C Murphy
0491-37769
Wallingford, Oxfordshire
Daman Computer Services
Kennedy House, Rutland Street
L J Watson
061-793-7015
Swinton, Manchester M27 2AU
P R Daly
Oaklands Gate, North wood
Peter Daly
09274-29815
Middlesex HA6 3AA
Deltic Computing Ltd
2nd Floor, May Place House
Basingstoke 59715
May Place, Basingstoke,
Hampshire
Diskdean Ltd
23 Bedford Row
01-242-7394
London WC1R 4EB
Diskwise Ltd
25 Fore Street
R Cornforth
05793-3780
Callington, Cornwall
Equinox Computer Systems
Kleeman House, 16 Anning Street
M Kusmirak
01-739-2387/9
New Inn Yard, London EC2
Fully Integrated
18 Hanover Drive
John Metcalf
Business Systems Ltd
Gravelly Industrial Park
021-328-7920
Tyburn Road, Birmingham
B24 8TE
G W Computers Ltd
89 Bedford Court Mansions
01-636-8210
Bedford Avenue, London WC1
Graffcom Systems Ltd
52 Shaftesbury Avenue
Barbara
London
Castedine
Graham Dorian Software
c/o Lifeboat Associates
01-379-7931
32 Neal Street, London
WC2H 9PS
Guestel Ltd
Refuge House
Allan Timpany
0225-65379
2-4 Henry Street, Bath
Hayden Young Ltd
PO Box 117, 141 Euston Road
01-387-4377
London NW1 2 AY
Haywood Associates Ltd
1 1 Station Approach
01-428-9831
Northwood, Middlesex
HB Computers Ltd
22 Newland Street
Johnny Johnson
0536-520910
Kettering, Northamptonshire
Horizon Software Ltd
Regent House, 16 West Walk
0533-556550
Leicester LEI 7NG
Humac Ltd
168-186 South Street
John Oatham
Romford 752005
Romford, Essex RM1 1TR
Informex London Ltd
8-12 Lee High Road
01-318-4213/7
London SE13 5LQ
Instar Business Systems
61 High Street
01-680-5330
Croydon, Surrey
Intelligent Artefacts
Cambridge Road
0223-207689
Orwell, Hertfordshire
Intereurope SD Ltd
19-21 Denmark Street
0734-789183
Wokingham, Berkshire
RG1 1 2 QX
Interface Computer
First Floor, 17 Guithavon Street
Services Ltd
Witham, Essex
0376-518112
172
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
■Buyers’ Guide
SuperBrain
Alan Pearman Ltd
£190
Statistics package
SuperBrain
Alan Pearman Ltd
£105
APL utility functions
SuperBrain
Alan Pearman Ltd
£225
APL Text editor/
processor
Micro-mainframe
communications
SuperBrain
Alan Pearman Ltd
£125
SuperBrain
Alan Pearman Ltd
£490
Modelling/simulation
SuperBrain
Alan Pearman Ltd
£325
Actuarial calculations
SuperBrain
Alan Pearman Ltd
£75
Password security
system
Report formatting
SuperBrain
Alan Pearman Ltd
£225
SuperBrain
Alan Pearman Ltd
£195
CP/M networks
SuperBrain
Alan Pearman Ltd
£380
Hard graphics copy
Tandy TRS-80
Chess Consultancies
£995
Haulage
administration
Tandy TRS-80
Cleartone ADP
£300
WIP and invoicing
system
Tandy TRS-80
Cleartone ADP
£500
Patient and drugs
records
Tandy TRS-80
P J Norris
£1,000
Comprehensive sales
and purchase
Tandy TRS-80
Quickmet
£785
Integrated accounts
package
Zilog MCZ range
Microbits
£1,000
Insurance brokers
system
Zilog MCZ range
Microbits
£1,000
Production control
Zilog MCZ range
Microbits
£1,000
Bill of materials
Z-80/8080
Intereurope
£500
Conference organiser
Alphabetical list of suppliers
Supplier
3-Line Computing
0482-445496
ACT Microsoft Ltd
021-455-8585
Aerco-Gemsoft
04862-22881
A J Harding (Molimerx)
0424-22039
Algobel Computers Ltd
021-233-2407
Amplicon M S Ltd
0273-608331
Anagram Systems
0403-50854
Analog Electronics
0203-417761
Alan Pearman Ltd
0244-46024/21084
Atlanta Data Systems Ltd
01-739-5889
Basic Computing
0535-65094
Benchmark CS Ltd
0726-61000
Bristol Software Factory
0272-277135
Business Solutions Ltd
01-554-5985/0582
Bytesoft Systems Limited
0533-531441
Chess Consultancies Ltd
061-832-6792
Cleartone ADP
0495-244555
Address
36 Clough Road
Hull HU5 1QL
Radclyffe House
66-68 Hagley Road
Birmingham B16 8PF
27 Chobham Road
Woking Surrey
28 Collington Avenue
Bexhill-on-Sea, East Sussex
33 Cornwall Buildings
Newhall Street
Birmingham B3 3QR
Richmond Road
Brighton, Sussex BN1 6JA
60a Queens Street
Horsham, West Sussex RH13 5 AD
47 Ridgeway Avenue
Coventry
Maple House, Mortlake Crescent
Chester CH3 5UR
350/356 Old Street Frank Laughton
London EC IV 9DT
Oakworth Road Mike Collier
Keighley, West Yorkshire
BD22 7LA
Sales
contact
Tim Hill
Matthew
Wauchope
John Harding
Amanda Anders
Peter Wood
7-8 Aylmer Square
St Austell, Cornwall
PL25 5LL
Kingsons House, Grove Avenue
Queen Square, Bristol BS1 4QY
1 Park Avenue, Ilford
Essex IG1 4LU
16 New Street
Leicester LEI SNR
Progress House
31-33 Mount Street, Salford
Manchester M3
Prince of Wales Industrial Estate
Abercarn, Gwent NP1 5RJ
John Fisher
W J Kyle-Price
S Page
David Biggins
D G West
C J Holbrook
16K ZX-81 , with printer, full sized keyboard
and cassette recorder, over £100 worth of
software: Invaders Eprom, m/c programs, 2
books and 22 basic programs. Will sell all for
£199. Tel: (0903) 42013.
VIC 20!! Full colour/sound games/educational
programs, 4/5 on cassette, £5.50. Tel: (0634)
8141 18 for details.
TEXAS SILENT 700 portable data terminal,
hardly used, £750. Tel: 01-778 2006 (office
hours).
DUAL 8" DISKETTE drive model DR 76, from
Digico M16E, £450. Tel: 01-778 2006 (office
hours).
GTE NOVAR 5-60 golf ball terminal, with key-
board, £300. Tel: 01-778 2006 (office hours).
1 0 1 K ZX-81 GAMES. Cassette, £2.50, listings
30p each. 5 1 6K games, £2.95, listings 50p. To
Ian Morrison, 1 7 Winton Circus, Saltcoats, Ayr-
shire KA21 5DA.
PET 2001, new ROMs, 8K, programs,
manuals, etc., excellent condition, £290 ono.
Tel: Carrickfergus 66516 (N.I.).
APPLE/ITT2020 disc drive with controller,
unused, with manual, £290. Tel: 01-521 7733.
ACORN ATOM, fully expanded, worth £400,
want £300. Tel: 01-567 8607 after 6pm.
UK 101, 8K, cased, 4K Wemon monitor, all
manuals, leads, programs on tape, £100. Tel:
Byfleet 42443.
RML 380Z, single mini-floppy disk system,
high resolution graphics, etc., etc., £1 ,500. Tel:
Oxford 53514.
SINCLAIR OWNERS! Save and load pro-
grams reliably from cassette with the Duette
recorder, battery or mains (lead supplied). Ear
and mic sockets fit Sinclair jacks. Supplied with
three 1 K programs on tape — Invaders, Guess
the Number, and Bingo. £18.50 (including
postage) from G. Henderson, 107 Mersey
Road, London El 7 5LA.
OWING TO FURTHER EXPANSION. Impetus
Computer Systems need programmers with
experience in BASIC & Assembler on the PET.
Salary a.a.e., Hendon area. Phone Impetus,
01-202 2726.
ZX81: SOPHISTICATED SOFTWARE. Matrix
Planner: A versatile and powerful on-screen
financial modelling system employing VisiCalc
concepts. Allows complete business planning,
’what-if analysis, home budgeting, etc. (£5).
ZTEXT: The first ZX81 word processor. Enter
and edit text using the elegant screen-display
editor. Print it on either the screen or the ZX
printer, using format/print routine. Paging, full
justification, indentation, etc. (£5). Or both for
£7.50. From Graham Asher, 60 Maryland
Road, Wood Green, London N22 5AN. (Cas-
sette, instructions).
PET 3032 32K w/Computhink 1 .2 MB dual disk
drives, cassette and TNW interface to Qume or
whatever. DMS software. Total package cost
£2,500. Sell for first £1,000 cash. No offers.
0276 682011.
BREAKOUT in M/C for Sharp MZ80K, uses
Set and Reset, nine speeds, one or two bats.
£3.00 on cassette. Mr. A. Goodwin, 22 Canter-
bury Leys, Tewksbury, Glos.
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
171
SIMPLICALC
FOR EVEN 8K PETS FROM CROIMITE
For the first time, you can have a visual electronic calculator on even the smallest Commodore Pet, with no
need for a disk drive.
You can move your screen around on your electronic worksheet, adding and deleting and recalculating ... and if you think that
Si m pllCalc was i^tten to provide the main facilities of programs like VisiCalc™ on machines which do
offarger programs^ ^ nve re ^ uire< ^ f° r VisiCalc™. Now the real power of your micro can be harnessed at a quarter of the cost
★ Runs even in 8K
★ Writes figures or alphabetic characters on your sheet
★ Allows easy change or deletion
★ Can save your sheet for future use
★ Lets you print out your sheet on PET printers
★ Uses cassette or disk
★ Allows formulae to be set up for rapid recalculation
★ Shows you your sheet on the screen all the time
★ Allows replication of columns and rows
What can you use it for? It's limited only by your imagination; any tabular computation, especially where you want to adjust and
recalculate, is ideal. The Cronite Group uses it for costing, modelling, consolidation and capital investment appraisals. Try these;
★ Education — business studies and economics
★ Investment analysis
★ Household budgeting
★ Financial modelling and cash flow
★ Costing
★ Tax computations — personal or business
To obtain your copy of this versatile numeric tool, with comprehensive manual, send cheque with order, specifying whether your
CBM is ★ 2001 /3000/early 4000 (PEEK (1 44) - 46) ★ late 4000 series ★ 8032 and whether you want cassette £29.90 inc. VAT or
disk £36.80 inc. VAT (specify drive) to;
SIMPLICALC — The Cronite Group Limited, Montgomery Street, Birmingham B11 IDT.
Further versions for other popular micros e.g. VIC 20 are planned; enquiries welcome.
Further details from Mark Turner on 021-773 8281 — telex 338247
VisiCalc is a trade mark
of Personal Software Inc.
• Circle No. 283
MAKE THE MOST OF
YOUR CP/M SYSTEM
with a highly productive language designed to improve
the reliability of software.
• ProPascal is a full implementation of the stan-
dard language, with extensions such as ran-
dom-access files and separate compilation of
program segments.
• The compiler runs on any Z80 micro with CP/M
and at least 52K RAM, e.g. MZ-80B, Horizon,
Conqueror, MCZ, Superbrain and many others.
• Object programs are compact and fast, making
full use of the Z80’s registers and instruction set.
• The software package includes a disc-to-disc
linker and a cross-reference program.
Developed and supported in the UK, ProPascal is
available now, at a single-user price of £190 plus VAT.
Dealer enquiries are also welcome.
rospero
PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE SPECIALISTS
Prospero Software, 37 Gwendolen Avenue, London SW15 6EP. Tel: 01-785 6848.
200
• Circle No. 284
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
authorized /tocki/t/i
northernAiimited
Semicomps Northern Ltd.,
East Bowmont Street,
Kelso, Roxburghshire. Tel: (0573) 24366
V
/ /
(Ovr/u/urJ
1 1 2, Groby Road, Glenfield, Leicester LE3 8GL
Tel: (0533) 871522
MID-SHIRE'S COMPUTER CENTRE
68 Nantwich Road, Crewe, Cheshire
Tel: (0270) 211086
Amateur radio C.B. radio |
Electronics Computers
372-374 George Street Aberdeen
Telephone: 0224 633385
9 East Street, Colne,
Nr. Huntingdon, Cambs.
Tel: Ramsey (0487) 840710
Contact Paul Jephcott
58 Battersea Rise,
Clapham Junction
London SW11 1HH
Tel: 01-674 1205
01-675 4557
OFF
Records
In the heart
m of theNascom
country lies
« ^ Business & Leisure
We specialise in tailoring
Business & Leisure systems to your specific
MklO Computers requirements.
16 The Square, Kenilworth, CV8 1EB.
Tel: Kenilworth (0926) 512127
Stationstraat,
6241 CL,
Bunde (L),
Netherlands.
Tel: 043 641147
MAAS COMPUTER CONSULTANTS
ELECTRICAL ELECTRONIC & MICROCOMPUTING
RETAIL & REPAIR
18 Station Road Lower Parkstone
Poole Dorset BH 1 4 8UB park
Tel: Parkstone (0202) 746555 ELE
RJ
:stone
CTRICSj |
OTHER NASCOM PRODUCTS
* Nascom 1 from El 25 + VAT
* Nascom 2 from £225 + VAT
’ Memory Extension Unit from £80 + VAT
* Disc systems from £375 + VAT
* Input/Output board from £37 + VAT
NEW
* Advanced video controller from £155 +
VAT
* Enhanced BASIC from £40 + VAT
* Pascal compiler from £45 + VAT
* Compiled BASIC from £150 + VAT
SRS MICROSYSTEMS
1 161 Bramley Road, Oakwood,
London N14
Telephone: 01-363 8060 J
SPECIAL OFFER
Imp Printers
£199 VAT
including IMP PRINT
• Circle No. 282
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
199
NOW YOUR
HP-85
IS COMPLETE
with the MSC-9800H 5.0Mb winchester drive
• 45ms access time.
• 22 bit error detection/1 1 bit error correction.
• 256 byte data buffer.
• Software compatible with HP9895 floppy drive.
• Compact desk top unit measuring 6%" x IOV2" x 12".
• Low cost per byte.
JUST PLUG IN AND RUN!! . . . OTHER MODELS AVAILABLE.
MSC-9800 — STANDARD IEEE-48/MSC-9800 L-HP9800 SERIES COMPATIBLE.
U.K. DISTRIBUTORS:
ANGLIA COMPUTER CENTRE
88 ST. BENEDICTS STREET, TEL: (0603) 29652/26002.
NORWICH NR2 4AB.
Tired of
hearing
about
PASCAL?
We think you’ve
waited long
enough.
At last, there is an easy to understand
Pascal sampler to help you learn Pascal
programming, LinkSampler. And to fill the
needs of the Pascal programmer, two
Pascal utility programs to increase your
programming productivity, LinkVideo and
LinkDisk.
Link Systems backs its commitment to
quality Pascal software with fifteen years of
mainframe and micro computer
programming experience.
The Easiest Way to
Learn Pascal
• LinkSampler is an entertaining
Pascal learning tool, supplied with easy to
understand documentation. LinkSampler
includes a full diskette of games, math
procedures and financial programs.
LinkSampler I will help you put into
practice what you have read in books.
£ 49.95
An Interactive
Pascal Utility
• LinkDisk fills the needs of the
programmer for manipulating individual
bytes of Pascal mass storage media.
It compares, examines and changes any
byte on an Apple Pascal disk and translates
DOS Basic into Pascal.
Compare.
This function enables you to insure that a
disk copy was performed without error, and
the copy is readable. Good for Pascal and
Basic.
Examine.
Enables you to examine and change
data on mass storage, change data byte by
byte and alter any nibble of data.
Translate.
Enables you to translate DOS 3.3 text
and Binary files into Pascal. £ 54.95
A Multi Function
Programmers Aid
• LinkVideo saves valuable input,
output programming time, and provides
terminal independence for essential screen
functions.
• Erase to End of line.
• Erase to End of Screen. • Clear Screen.
• Cursor Moves (both input and output).
• Line and Screen Erasure.
• Filters, Validates and prompts input for
Strings, Fields, Boolean, Social Security
Numbers, Telephone Numbers, Dates,
Integers, Pseudo-Reals. £ 44.95
SYSTEmS
U.K DISTRIBUTORS:
ANGLIA COMPUTER
CENTRE
88 ST. BENEDICTS STREET,
NORWICH NR2 4AB.
TELEPHONE:
(0603) 29652/26002.
(All prices exclude VAT)
W
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
• Circle No. 286
203
NEC
3500
A NEW GENERATION OF
NEC SPINWRITERS
(A little less speed for
a lot less money)
They've done it again! NEC Information
Systems' new Series 3500 Spinwriter
combines the reliability of past NEC
products with an unbelievable
low price.
The 3500 series is a new generation
of Spinwriters capable of printing up to
35 characters per second at a saving of approx-
imately 25% over past products. NEC has accomplished
this tremendous price reduction while maintaining the same
high quality printing and reliability found in all past NEC models. The new series has full
functional compatibility with the 5500/7700 series printers, which means not a single line of
code need be rewritten to take full advantage of this new product. Call today for more info.
BDT
ASF 160
Automatic sheet feeders
Feeds up to 250 single sheets or
letterheads automatically — no
more hand feeding !
Universal unit with mountings
for NEC, Tec, Qume, Ricoh,
Diablo and others.
Easily attached or removed in
seconds.
No modification to printer or
software required.
Trade, OEM and Educational Discounts available — area dealerships invited.
NOW YOUR HP-85 IS COMPLETE
with the MSC-9800H 5.0Mb winchester drive
• 45ms access time.
• 22 bit error detection/1 1 bit error correction.
• 256 byte data buffer.
• Software compatible with HP9895 floppy drive.
• Compact desk top unit measuring 6%" x lOW' x 12".
• Low cost per byte.
JUST PLUG IN AND RUN!! . . . OTHER MODELS AVAILABLE.
MSC-9800 — STANDARD IEEE-48/MSC-9800 L-HP9800 SERIES COMPATIBLE.
U.K. DISTRIBUTORS:
ANGLIA COMPUTER CENTRE
88 ST. BENEDICTS STREET, TEL: (0603) 29652/26002.
NORWICH NR2 4AB.
Tired of
hearing
about
PASCAL?
We think you’ve
waited long
enough.
At last, there is an easy to understand
Pascal sampler to help you learn Pascal
programming, LinkSampler. And to fill the
needs of the Pascal programmer, two
Pascal utility programs to increase your
programming productivity, LinkVideo and
LinkDisk.
Link Systems backs its commitment to
quality Pascal software with fifteen years of
mainframe and micro computer
programming experience.
The Easiest Way to
Learn Pascal
• LinkSampler is an entertaining
Pascal learning tool, supplied with easy to
understand documentation. LinkSampler
includes a full diskette of games, math
procedures and financial programs.
LinkSampler I will help you put into
practice what you have read in books.
£49.95
An Interactive
Pascal Utility
• LinkDisk fills the needs of the
programmer for manipulating individual
bytes of Pascal mass storage media.
It compares, examines and changes any
byte on an Apple Pascal disk and translates
DOS Basic into Pascal.
Compare.
This function enables you to insure that a
disk copy was performed without error, and
the copy is readable. Good for Pascal and
Basic.
Examine.
Enables you to examine and change
data on mass storage, change data byte by
byte and alter any nibble of data.
Translate.
Enables you to translate DOS 3.3 text
and Binary files into Pascal. £54.95
A Multi Function
Programmers Aid
• LinkVideo saves valuable input,
output programming time, and provides
terminal independence for essential screen
functions.
• Erase to End of line.
• Erase to End of Screen. • Clear Screen.
• Cursor Moves (both input and output).
• Line and Screen Erasure.
• Filters, Validates and prompts input for
Strings, Fields, Boolean, Social Security
Numbers, Telephone Numbers, Dates,
Integers, Pseudo-Reals. £44.95
sYsrcms
U.K DISTRIBUTORS:
ANGLIA COMPUTER
CENTRE
88 ST. BENEDICTS STREET,
NORWICH NR2 4AB. >
TELEPHONE: /
(0603) 29652/26002y£^
(All prices exclude VAT)
/ sfr
• Circle No. 286
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
203
icro
MATRIX
eneral printers...
Please contact us for advice on printer selection
MICROLINE 80
Popular, robust printer with block graphics.
New models 82A & 83A now available. 1 20
cps, true descenders. Serial/Parallel
interfaces switch selectable.
£279
+ VAT
EPSON MX-SERIES
Remarkably versatile printers for many
applications. Graphics models and full
range of interfaces available.
FROM £359+vat
(FOR MX-80T)
CENTRONICS 739-2
Superb proportional print quality. Pin
addressable graphics. Superscripts and
subscripts. Forward and reverse paper
motion.
£504+vat
FREE DELIVERY to UK Mainland.
Listing paper £17. 00+ VAT per 2,000 sheets.
FREE INSTALLATION within 30 miles of Reading.
DAY or EVENING appointments welcome.
MICRO GENERAL, 6 The Birchwoods, Tilehurst,
Reading, Berks RG3 5UH.
Tel: 0734 25226.
"ATTENTION COMPUTER DEALERS"
Let us be your Exporter/ Purchasing Agent in the
United States for the following products: —
MICROCOMPUTERS:- Ohio Scientific,
Onyx.
PRINTERS:— Okidata, Centronics, NEC,
Xerox/ Diablo, Anadex, Printerm, Eaton.
TERMINALS:— Micro-term, Televideo,
Hazeltine, Zintec, Beehive.
MAG-TAPE:— Alloy engineering cart-
ridge and reel.
FURNITURE:- Printer Stands, CRT
Stands, Computer Tables.
MISC:— Blank Floppy Disks, Blank
Cartridge and reel mag tape, CRT Cables,
etc.
NOTE
IF YOU DONT SEE YOUR NEEDS, PLEASE
CONTACT US WITH YOUR REQUIREMENTS.
SYSTEMS INTERNATIONAL INC
500 CHESHAM HOUSE,
150 REGENT STREET,
LONDON W1R 5FA
SYSTEMS INTERNATIONAL INC
15920 LUANNE DRIVE
GAITHERSBURG, MARYLAND
20760 U.S.A.
Telephone 301-977-0100. Telex 710-828-9703
Cable Address SYSINTL. GAITHERSBURG MD
• Circle No. 287
• Circle No. 288
INFRA COMPUTER COMPONENTS LIMITED
Pendorric House, 7 Westfield Road, Great Shelford, Cambridge.
Telephone: (0223) 841728/843953. Telex: 81574.
7400
7400. .1010
7401*04 .11
7409. .14
7410. .15
7412. .19
7413. .25
7420. .13
7430. .17
7432. .24
7440. .20
7442. .30
7448. .36
7486. .20
74159. .56
74184. .87
74185. .88
74198. .55
74273. .75
Zilog. Z80. family
Z80. CPU. £3.50
Z80A. CPU. £4.60
Z80. CTC. £3.80
Z80A. CTC. £3.95
Z80. Dart. £6.00
Z80A. Dart. £7.10
Z80. PIO £3.50
Z80A. PIO £3.50
Rams
21 11 A. £2.50
2114 2L. £1.00
2114 4L. .95
4116 150ns .90
4116 200ns .79
4118 £4.30
4864 £11.50
6116. P3 £9.50
6116LP3. £12.00
Proms
1702 £4.00
2708 £2.40
2716 350ns £6.00
2716 450ns £3.25
2532 £4.50
2732 £5.00
74LS series
74LS00. .09
74LS1-10. .11
74LS27. .13
74LS30. .12
74LS74. 14
74LS 75. .23
74LS 85. .65
74LS86. .13
74LS 92. .34
74LS 93. .34
74LS112. .37
74LS 132. .43
74LS 138. .34
74LS 139.
.35
74LS 145.
.75
74LS 151.
.30
74LS 153.
.30
74LS 154.
.88
74LS 155.
.38
74LS 157.
.31
74LS 161.
.35
74LS 163.
.38
74LS 165.
1.00
74LS 166.
.30
74LS 168.
.83
74LS 174.
.45
74LS 175.
.53
74LS221.
.50
74 LS 240.
.90
74LS 241.
1.00
74LS 242.
.70
74LS 243.
.70
74LS 244.
.58
74LS 245.
1.00
74LS 247.
.32
74LS 248.
.63
74LS 249.
.63
74LS 257.
.47
74LS 259.
.95
74LS 261.
2.95
74LS 266.
.22
74LS 273.
.68
74LS 283.
.40
74LS 290.
.50
74LS 365.
.30
74LS 373.
.65
74LS 374.
.65
74LS 393.
.55
I.C. Sockets
8. pin.
•7p
14. pin.
■8p
16. pin.
8p
20. pin.
14p
22. pin.
16p
24. pin.
20p
28. pin.
24p
40. pin.
28p
Crystals
32. 768K Hz.
90p
1000 MHZ
£2.50p
2000 MHZ
£2.52p
2.562 MHZ
£3.1 Op
3.276 MHZ
£1.00p
3.579 MHZ
£1 .00p
3.932 MHZ
£1.1 Op
4.000 MHZ
£1.40p
4.194 MHZ
£1.80p
4.433 MHZ
.80p
5000 MHZ
£1.75p
5.120 MHZ
£1 .00p
6000 MHZ
£1.75p
6.144 MHZ
£ 1 .2 1 p
6.400 MHZ
£1.75p
10000 MHZ
£1.25
18000 MHZ
£1.1 Op
20000 MHZ
£1.25p
Quantity discounts available on request. All prices exclusive of Vat and carriage.
Government, Education Authorities and trade welcome. Ring our friendly sales staff for prompt service. (0223) 841728 843953.
204
• Circle No. 289
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
NASCOM USERS
Take a look at the NASCOM APPROVED HS-IN
STORAGE SYSTEM. Where else can you get
features like these . . .
* A full on screen Instant display of the
catalogue.
* Auto verification of each file as it Is
written.
* CRC error checking.
* Link selectable 2Mhz or 4Mhz option.
* Fast data transfer rate of 6000 bps.
* Powered from NASBUS.
* 8" sq NASBUS compatible PCB.
* Far more reliable than any floppy disk
system.
* 1 1 2K on-line storage with 2 drive system.
The HS-IN has a Command Set which makes it a
floppy-disk "look-alike". It can load an 8K
program in under 1 1 seconds and can store up
to 56K (28 files) on each side of tape. Why spend
£700 on a floppy disk system when the less
expensive HS-IN system has a command set like
this . . .
B- Write a Basic file
C— Instant display of catalogue.
D— Delete file.
J— Jump to Basic.
N- Jump to NAS-SYS.
Q— Warm start to NASPEN text editor.
R— Read a file.
T— Transfer file to another drive.
W- Write a file.
X— Exit and rewind cassettes.
Z— Warm start to Basic.
This Mini-Cassette Storage System is
technologically far ahead of anything like it on
the market and is extremely reliable into the
bargain. AND THE COST? Because we have
been successful in quantity component
purchases we have been able to lower the price
until January 3 1st 1982 (the old price is in
brackets).
Single Drive System built and tested
Double Drive System built and tested
£199 (£230)
1
£279 (£299)
Carriage £3.50.
We are Scotland's foremost NASCOM Dealers
and keep in stock the full range of NASCOM
products as described in the Lucas Logic Advert
in this magazine. For the Christmas period and
up to January 31st 1982 we are offering a FREE
Statistical Calculator (without battery) with
every NASCOM product worth more than £100
or each series of NASCOM products with a
value totalling £100 or more in the same order.
AND if you don't want the calculator . . .just
'phone and see if we have something else you
need FREE - a book perhapsl
We now have the new NASCOM CASE in stock
as well as many more new NASCOM related
products.
COMPONENTS
AT THE BEST PRICES IN BRITAIN
MICRO-SPARES now have a vast selection of
Logic I.C.'s including 74; 74LS and CMOS full
range. There are Z80's and support chips as well
as resistors, capacitors etc. etc. . . .far too many
to list on this page. But to give you an idea of
the prices just compare these . . .
1-199 200 +
21 14’s (all speeds) 95p POA
41 16’s (all speeds) 61 p POA
2708's
2716's Single +5v
4118's
1.73p
2.1 5p
3.80p
POA
POA
POA
All components are fully guaranteed and are in
stock as at 15th January 1982. Orders under
£30 please add 50p p. & p. VAT not included.
Send SAE for current price list. Official orders
from all establishments welcome.
All components In stock sent same day.
NEW
Very shortly now MICRO-SPARES will be selling
the all computer RS232C version of the HS-IN.
The Mini-Cassette System is just as fast and files
can be any length. The machine can be
connected to computers, V.D.U.'s, Printers and
and other RS232C device. They will take the
place of paper tape in loading engineer test
programs for instance. Other communication
modes are 20mA current loop, IEEE and Z80 bus.
SECOND HAND COMPUTERS
MICRO-SPARES keep a register of users that are
buying or selling a computer. Stocks of second-
hand machines -all in working order -are
available from the very small to the very large at
extremely keen prices.
Micro-Spares
19 Roseburn Terrace. Edinburgh EH12 5NG.
BARCLAYCARD
Tel: 031-337 5611.
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
• Circle No. 290
205
NEC
3S00
A NEW GENERATION OF
NEC SPINWRITERS
(A little less speed
a lot less money!)
They've done it again! NEC Information
Systems' new Series 3500 Spinwriter
combines the reliability of past NEC
products with an unbelievable
low price.
The 3500 series is a new generation
of Spinwriters capable of printing up to
35 characters per second at a saving of approx- ^
imately 25% over past products. NE C has accomplished
this tremendous price reduction while maintaining the same
high quality printing and reliability found in all past NEC models. The new series has full
functional compatibility with the 5500/7700 series printers, which means not a single line of
code need be rewritten to take full advantage of this new product. Call today for more info.
BDT
ASF 160
Automatic sheet feeders
Feeds up to 250 single sheets or
letterheads automatically — no
more hand feeding I
Universal unit with mountings
for NEC, Tec, Qume, Ricoh,
Diablo and others.
Easily attached or removed in
seconds.
No modification to printer or
software required.
Trade, OEM and Educational Discounts available — area dealerships invited.
Phone for your nearest stockist
You've come this far to
find a printer supplier -
don’t blow it now.
Lots of people can sell you terminals. But no one can give you terminals
that come with a guaranteed immediate delivery that ours come with!*
So what's it to be? A terminal from a company that delivers what it
promises.
Ora terminal from a company that just makes lots of promises?
*subject to being in stock.
EPSON
OKI
82 A ^ ^ 83A
'V ievable quality print-
N er from the world's largest
print head manufacturer. A whole stable
of machines to suit a wide variety of app-
lications: MX80, MX82, MX 80FT/1 &
MX80 FT/New Type 2, MX100.
Small, * P
light, quiet, dot
matrix printer. 40, 80 or 132 columns, 6
or 8 lines per inch, 96 ASCII characters
plus 64 graphics characters, Centronics int.
TRANSTEC
1200
Green
Screen
Computer data
and graphic displays
never look better, brighter, sharper. Low
cost, high resolution, high performance.
QUME
RICOH
SPRINT 9
FLO WRITER
The Daisywheel Printing Terminal series
that sets a new standard for print quality,
reliability and serviceability. Unbeatable
performance at a realistic price.
is one of the ^
most advanced daisy
wheel printers on the world market today.
With a unique combination of features.
TVI
HAZELTINE
910/920/985/950
ESPRIT Green Screen
The Hazeltine Esprit
Fully intelligent
|| • 1 terminals with
Jyj j ■■1 24x80 display &
is a buffered terminal
capable of displaying
the complete 128
ASCI 1 character set.
Based on a 12" dia-
gonal non-glare CRT,
underlining and
protect fields.
the video is crisp
and clear with
96 ASCII chrs etc.
each character
presented on a large mat-
rix to reduce eye fatigue.
TEC
Daisy wheel
printer for word pro
cessing, professional results
Diablo compatible, suitable for
most micro and mini computers.
, ORTH AMBER
\ LIMITED
As
V 3&4 DAWES COURT,
' ESHER, SURREY.
Tel: Esher (0372) 62071 or
66398 (from 01 nos. dial >
78-62071 or 78-66398]^
Importers, Distribu
tors & Wholesalers
of quality Com
puter products .
• Circle No. 291
BUTEL- COMCO
RP 1600 Daisywheei Printer
LU
Trade / OEM discounts available.
60 cps!
* Serial V24/IEEE/Centronics
interface
* Optional intelligent version
includes
Qume/Diablo compatible commands
Auto bidirectional operation
2-8K buffer
Write or call for further information:
Butel Comco Limited
Garrick Industrial Centre
Garrick Road,
London NW9 6AQ
Telephone: 01 - 202 0262
LEARN PROGRAMMING &
MICROS IN CAMBRIDGE
SHORT COURSES
“PROGRAMMING IN BASIC”
Dates: 25-27 January, 10-12 March & 21-23 April
“PROGRAMMING IN PASCAL”
Dates: 18-22 January & 22-26 March
“MICROCOMPUTERS IN BUSINESS & INDUSTRY”
Dates: 22-26 February
“INTRODUCTION TO DESIGN OF MICROPROCESSOR
SYSTEMS”
Dates: 1-5 February & 29 March-2 April
“ADVANCED SYSTEMS DESIGN USING PASCAL”
Dates: 15-19 February & 26-30 April
Write or phone for Course Prospectus
and Booking Form
CAMBRIDGE MICRO COMPUTERS LTD
Cambridge Science Park
Milton Road
Cambridge CB4 4BN
Telephone: 0223-314666
• Circle No. 293
The?2X 8000 Ptfotet
A hoST ofoUTSTANdjNC FeATU
Features • Low Cost • Excellent Printing Quality
X • Logic Seeking Carriage Control for Faster Output
• 96 ASCII Character Set plus block graphics characters
•Long Life Print Head 100 million characters minimum
• Variety of Interfaces • Paper Roll Carrier Optional
•Tractor Feed Version includes friction feed facility
W • Centronics Version available now •RS 232C Version available in February
Order Code Friction Feed Version RX 8000 FF-CENT £ 21 9
Tractor Feed Version RX 8000 TF-CENT £238 vat& carriage extra
fflitci ffilpLou Atonit&i
• Reliable Quality ^ '
! Quality
• High Revolution picture tube
shows 1 920 characters (1 8 x 24)
• Lightweight and compact
with controls
• Easy operating for user
1 2 inch or 9 inch monitor
£125 + VAT and carriage
Quantity discount available
PRC 82/2
STOTRON
LIMITED
Member of the Roxburgh
Group of Companies.
STOTRON LTD , 4A, Shilton Industrial Estate
Bulkington Road. Shilton, Coventry CV7 9JY
Tel: 0203 613521
STOTRON LTD ,
72 Blackheath Road. Greenwich.
London SE10 8DA Tel 01691 2031
STOTRON (HAYWARDS HEATH) LTD ,
1 2 Bridge Road. Haywards Heath
West Sussex. RH16 1 VA Tel: 0444 52550
For complete Specifications
or demonstrations,
Write or call today.
NAME
ADDRESS
• Circle No. 292
208
• Circle No. 294
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
LONDON COMPUTER CENTRE
PET! APPLE! TRS80 ! HORIZON! OWNERS!
Let LCC the BIG COMPUTER CENTRE put you a cable’s length away from
Letter Quality Printing with 5-Star Printers.
Letter Quality Printing with 6-Star Printers.
Olivetti ET 121. 20 CPS. Proportional Spacing. Doubles as Typewriter. £795
Tec-40. 40 CPS. 2K Buffer (Bi-Directional Printing, uses Diablo Daisywheels
and ribbons). £1235
Daisywheel 11 . 60 CPS. Ricoh 1600 Daisywheel. £995
Flowriter RP1600. 60 CPS. The most intelligent Daisy. 8K Buffer / Bi-
directional / Printing X On/Off, Right, Justify, Repeat, Built-in. £1500
Qume Sprint 5. 45 CPS. £1350
NEC 55 CPS £1650
Demonstrations on all models.
New! 12"
wide
Automatic
Sheet Feeder
fits all
above.
£580
* 16% Greater Disc Capacity
* Faster disc Access
* Auto Repeat on all Keys
* 18 Programmable Keys
Now with multi-coloured dedicated
keys for Magic Wand and Wordstar;
the ultimate word processors.
* £>$1.80
CP/M SOFTWARE WORD
PROCESSORS
WordStar
£275
WordStar with Dedicated Keys
£340
WordStar Mail-Merge
£65
Magic Wand
£185
Magic Wand with Dedicated Keys
£250
Spellbinder
£185
Spellbinder with Dedicated Keys
£250
DATA BASE SYSTEMS
DBase II Relational Data Base
£375
Condor
£250
TIM
£75
CRITICAL PATH
ANALYSIS
Milestone
£250
Task
£250
EPSON DUAL MODE PRINTERS
LETTER QUALITY 8 STANDARD DOT MATRIX IN ONE LOW COST UNIT
MX-80 F/T. List £425. £ Phone The onl V ful1 15 " width P latt ? n
LETTER LIKE PRINT QUALITY
3 WAY PAPER HANDLING
1. Leterheads or A4
2. Fanfold
3. Paper Rolls
LOW NOISE
132 COLUMNS PER LINE
JAPANESE RELIABILITY
MX-80 F/T2. List £440.
MX-100 F/T. List £575.
£ Phone
printer with dual print modes &
built in dot matrix 8- built in
hi res, graphics.
Full specification as the
MX-80 F/T.
AUTHORISED TANDY DEALERS
COMPLETE MODEL I 48K
SYSTEM
SPECIAL OFFER: LIMITED PERIOD 48K
System — 16K keyboard, 32K Expansion
Interface, dual Disc
Drives, Green VDU, complete with all cables.
£999
16K keyboard with UHF Modulator £275
16K System with VDU & Cassette £399
32K Expansion Interface £289
Dual Disc Drives £399
Double Density Doubler £75
MODEL
MODEL II
from £1999 including CP/M
From £650
16K without disc drives
48K without disc drives
We supply Model II with TRS DOS AND dr !y e ® .
CP/M at NO EXTRA CHARGE. With E P son . MX 80 and
° Wordprocessing
£650
£695
£1350
Scripsit for
£1799
TRS-80 MODEL 1 SOFTWARE
Electric Pencil (Disc)
£60
Scripsit (Disc)
£61
Scripsit (Cassette)
£25
THE SPECIAL LCC
Mail-Merge for Pencil & Scripsit
£45
APPLE SYSTEM
VAT aid programme
CCA Data Management System
£45
£125
48K Apple, Dual 40 Track Disc Drives & 1 2"
FINANCIAL PLANNER/
Green Screen Monitor
80 Column Card with Descenders
£1 395
£135
MODELLING
CP/M Softcard
£95
T/Maker
£155
16K RAM (Integer) Card
£65
SuperCalc
£250
Centronics Parallel Card
£75
Mini-Modeller
£350
Serial Printer / Communications Card £75
ALL PRICES ARE EXCLUSIVE OF VAT AND DELIVERY
DEALER ENQUIRIES INVITED ON ALL PRODUCTS
43 GRAFTON WAY, LONDON W1P 5LA (Opposite Maples )
OPENING HOURS: 11-7 MON-FRr 12-4 SAT Tel: 388 6991/2
24 hour answer phone: 01-388 5721
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
Circle No. 29b
209
ccntrolex
CENTRALEX-LONDON LTD
8-12 Lee High Rd, London SE13
Tel: 01-318 4213/4/5/6/7
9.30 am - 5 pm Mon to Fri -
Evenings and weekends by
appointment
A comprehensive range of Microcomputers Equipment, Peripherals, Software and
Services for those who value Professional Standards, Guidance and Continuing
Support for Hardware and Software.
APPLE
TEXAS
MICROPOLIS
DIABLO
MICROLINE
PET
OHIO SCIENTIFIC
CENTRONICS
QUME
HITACHI
ITT 2020
CROMEMCO
ANADEX
DEC
LEXICON
EXIDY
MICROSTAR
INTEGRAL
DATA GENERAL
ETC. ETC.
HORIZON
SHUGART
TELETYPE
EPSON
INF0RMEX-80 Printer
Special offer - for a limited period
For PET, APPLE, EXIDY, TRS80, ETC
A high quality, high speed printer
(125 cps) Upper and lower case letters
plus graphics as standard
Interface and cable for TRS80, PET,
APPLE or RS 232 C69 + VAT
Tractor feed option only £39
ALSO Training, Consultancy, Systems Design,
Programming and Software
PAYROLL - INVOICING - STOCK CONTROL -
SALES/PURCHASE LEDGER - VAT - MEDICAL
RECORDS - EDUCATIONAL & ENGINEERING
PROGRAMMES - HOTEL RESERVATION - ESTATE
AGENTS - BUILDING MAINTENANCE - COBOL -
FORTRAN - ETC.
Maintenance Contracts including stand-by equipment during repair
periods - Free Delivery Nationwide - Terms arranged - Credit Cards and
official orders accepted.
Circle No. 296
Why you need Locksmith.
ou’ve invested some money and a lot of time in a
- commercial software program for your Apple. It works
well, to the point that you ar e dependent on its day-to-day
functioning. But the disks are copy-protected. So you are
also dependent on the vendor’s back-up (if furnished), on
his living up to vague promises of support, even on his
ability to stav in business.
N;
o computer user can live with that. So until the
situation changes (and it will) , you need Locksmith.
I ocksmith (new 4.0 version) will copy almost all
i “protected" diskettes for the Apple. It is the most reliable
nibble-copy program you can buy. Locksmith is suitable
only for backups, because the copies
include all serial numbers, codes
and protection features of the
original (under the new copyright
law-, you’d have to be pretty
f(H)Iish to try bootlegging *
software that is traceable back to the purchaser).
I ocksmith includes nine other utilities, of which these
J five are vital to the integrity of your system: 1. Media
surface check — Never commit data" to a flawed diskette
again. 2. Disk-drive speed calibration — the most frequent
cause of communication bugs between Apples. 3. Degauss
and Erase — Make sure no stray data is left over. 4.
Nibble-Editor — sophisticated read/ write tool for repairing
blown disks. 5- Quickscan— Check for unreliable data, find
used and unused tracks.
A ll for just £65.00 at your load dealer or direct. You
• don’t just need Locksmith. You can’t afford to be without
it. Access or Visa
accepted. Add £1.50
P & P. VAT
excluded.
DDP RESEARCH & MARKETING
1 7 NOBEL SQ. BASILDON
ESSEX SS 1 3 1 LP
TEL (0268) 728484
Apple is a registered trademark of Apple Computer. Inc
210
PRACTICAL COMPU
• Circle No. 297
TING February 1982
• Circle No.
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Commodore official distributors
NEW DAISYWHEEL PRINTER IN STOCK
NEW MATRIX PRINTER NOW IN STOCK
THE RELIABLE VALUE FOR MONEY SYSTEM
WITH FULL AFTER SALES SUPPORT.
4008/16/32
8032 — 8050
8096
48K £695
DISK WITH CON. £380
DISK ... £290
FULL RANGE OF
MONITORS
B/W- GREEN OR
COLOUR.
PAPER TIGERS.
Apple authorised distributors
The sophisticated quality system with
a reputation for advanced design and
innovation^
64K From 1650
FULLY
INTEGRATED
ACCOUNTS
PACKAGE
48K = £395
inc. VAT
DISK DRIVES
PRINTERS ETC
MZ80K
The incredible computer system
now available ex-stock including the
New Duel Drive Double Sided Floppy Disk.
m
MICROCOMHU TER S YS TEMS
4(i? COVE NTRY ROAD SMAl l Hf ATM BIRMINGHAM H10 (JUG
Telephone 021 773 8240 or 021 772b/18 Tele* 33WJ09 (C.uinIum GJ
e
CRYSTAL ELECTRONICS
CC ELECTRONICS
FOR YOUR SHARP MZ80K CP/M 2.21 (XTAL)
BASIC CP/M FACILITIES INCLUDE:
• Dynamic file management Fast assembler
• General purpose editor • Advanced debugging utility
YOUR SHARPCP/M 2 21 (XTAL) PACKAGE INCLUDES
• Hardware modification (if fitted by a SHARPdealerdoes NOT break
the guarantee) • SHARP CP/M 2.21 (latest version) on disc • XTAL
Monitor and Operating system • 7 Digital Research manuals • 12
months guarantee and up-dates (on all our products)
CP/M 2.21 (XTAL) FROM £150 + VAT
Ask your SHARP dealer for further details or contact CRYSTAL
ELECTRONICS
CP/M SOFTWARE HOUSES-XTAL CAN HELP YOU ESTABLISH
YOUR SOFTWARE ON THE SHARP
XTAL BASIC (SHARP)
Takes 5K less memory, has all the features of SHARP BASIC PLUS
Multi dim strings, error trapping, logical operators, machine code
monitor, more flexible peripheral handling, improved screen control,
increased list control, auto run. If. then, else -and it doesn t stop there
-it grows. You can extend the commands and functionsat will- 10K.
12K. 16K. BASIC 9 SHARP to XTAL BASIC conversion program is
included £40 plus VAT.
Bi-directional serial board for your SHARP RS232 compatible 150
Baud to 2400 Baud adjustable < 5.6.7,8 Bit words, plugs into MZ80I/0
£99.50 plus VAT. Includes software for bi-directional use in XTAL BASIC,
software for using SHARP BASIC with serial printer and self-diagnostic
software for testing Baud rate etc
Members of Computer Retailers Association & Apple Dealers Association
Shop open 0930- 1 730 except Saturday & Sunday
40 Magdalene Road. Torquay. Devon. England. Tel: 0803 22699
Access and Barclaycard welcome
M '
• Circle No. 300
Metal cased 9
CROFTON
MONITOR
10 MHZ Bandwidth
P4 Standard
£59. 50+ vat (£68.42)
plus carriage £3.00
For P 31 (green) high
resolution tube add £12.50 +vat( £14.38)
i IPIAI Plastic cased 12"
NEW>prince monitor
High resolution
24 MHZ Bandwidth
P31 (green) Standard
for only
£78.00 +vat
(£89.70) plus
carriage £3.00
ALL MAJOR CREDIT CARDS ■T'V
ACCEPTED — Small surcharge
CROFTON ELECTRONICS LTD
35 Grosvenor Road, Twickenham. Middx TW1 4AD
01-891 1923/1513
212
• Circle No. 299
• Circle No. 301
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
...Three star printers
Economical general purpose
printer
• 132 column, 150 cps at 10 cpi
• bi-directional, logic seeking
• quick change cartridge ribbon
• fan-fold, cut sheet paper
• adjustable tractors
• 100% duty cycle
• rugged, versatile, dependable
FANTASTIC VALUE
AT UNDER £700
Ideal microcomputer printer
• 80 column, 150 cps at 10 cpi
• bi-directional, logic seeking
• quick change cartridge ribbon
• roll, cut sheet, fan-fold paper
• snap-on tractors
• 100% duty cycle
• rugged, versatile, dependable
FULL PROFESSIONAL
SPECIFICATION
FOR UNDER £500
Versatile, compact printer
• correspondence quality print
• proportional and fixed spacing
• true descenders, subscripts and
superscripts
• pin addressable graphics
• roll, cut sheet and fan-fold paper
• 100% duty cycle
• compact and quiet
ALL THE FEATURES
YOU NEED
FOR AROUND £500
...with a five star bonus
★Performance. ★Reliability. ★Versatility. ★Service. ★Economy.
Your Centronics Qualified Retailer
CetendHoete Thunetleiw ►■Volt* 077? 794491
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CEnTRonics
Your partner in print
Centronics Data Computer (UK) Ltd.. Victoria Way. Burgess Hill. Sussex RH15 9NU Telephone 04446-45011 Telex: 877801
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Circle No. 302
For the best PET software . . .
OCMdAND— O
DISK— O- PRO. ...
KRAM
SPACEMAKER IV
" USER I/O
PRONTO-FET. . . .
For Basic IV CBM/ PET, 39 functions
with injiroved 'Toolkit" ooranonds
For Basic H PET, adds 25 oonma ads
including Basic IV, in one 4K ran
For any 32K PET/CBM for retrieving
disk data by KEYED Randan Access
For any PET/CBM, . counts 1-4 rans
in one ran slot, switch selection
For software selection of up to 8
rans, in any two S pacemaker Quads
Soft /hard reset for 40-oolunn FETs
£59.95 + Vat
£59.95 + Vat
£86.95 + Vat
£29.95 + Vat
£12.95 + Vat
£9.99 + Vat
SUPERKRAM, REQUEST & KRAM PLUS will be available shortly
We are sole IK Distributors for these products, vhich are available
from your local CBM dealer, or direct from us by mail or telephone
order. To order by cheque write to: Calco Software, FREEPOST,
Ki n g s ton-upon-Thanes , Surrey KT2 731 (no starrp required). For sane-day
Access /Bare laycard service, telephone 01-546-7256. Official orders
accepted from educational , government & local authority establishments
. . .at the best prices!
WORDPRO IV PLUS
RRP
WORDPRO III PLUS
RRP
WORDPRO II PLUS
RRP
VISICALC
RRP
TOOLKIT Basic IV
RRP
TOOLKIT Basic n
RRP
£395 less £98.75 = £296.251
£275 less £68.75 * £206.251
£125 less £31.25 = £93.751
£125 less £25.00 = £100.001
£34 less £9.50 = £24.501
£29 less £7.25 = £21.751
The items abore are available by nail or telephone order at our
Special Offer Price when purchased with any ore of our software
products. This offer is for a LIMITED PERIOD only. UK - ADD 15 Z VAT.
OVERSEAS airmail postage - add £3.00 (Europe), £5.00 (outside Europe).
Calco Software
Lakeside Haise - Kingston Hill - Surrey - KT2 7QT Tel 01-546-7256
WOULD YOU LIKE
TO START YOUR
OWN SOFTWARE
COMPANY?
At Superior Systems in Sheffield we have over
4000 sq. ft. of office space available in our
building and would like to offer space at a frac-
tion of normal costs. We are looking for up to 10
individuals interested in starting a software
bureau associated with the hardware we sell
(Apple, Sharp, Adler, BBC, Acorn, Video Genie,
VIC). This will give obvious benefits to everyone
involved.
Interested parties please contact:
Mike Mahony
at
SUPERIOR SYSTEMS LTD.,
178 West St.,
SHEFFIELD SI 4ET.
• Circle No. 303
• Circle No. 304
15 good reasons for visiting Cambridge
1. Hewlett-Packard HP-85 & HP-125
2. Apple II & III
3. TRS-80 Model I II & III
4. Communicator
5. Osborne 1
6. WordStar/DataStar
7. Daisy-wheel printers
8. Sinclair ZX81
9. Acorn Atom
10 . Commodore VIC -20
11. Sharp pocket computer
12. UK 101 kit computer
13. Plotters/digitisers
14. Electronic components
With a uniquely comprehensive selection like this - all
generally on demonstration and available from stock with
full support by our team of computer professionals -
you’ll have the ideal chance of finding precisely the right
system for your application.
Looking for a microcomputer? - then visit us at:
Cambridge Computer Store
1 Emmanuel Street Cambridge CB1 1NE Telephone: (0223) 65334
Mon.-Fri. 9.00 to 12.30. 1.15 to 5.30 Sat. 9.00 to 5.30
214
• Circle No. 305
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
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SUPE3BRAIN is ideal for both first time buyers needing a general purpose machine, and for
users wishing to upgrade from a personal microcomputer system. Its CP/M operating system will handle the most sophisticated
programs. Twin Z80 microprocessors and an RS232 communications port make it easy toextend the system in the future.
The best value for money on the
small business systems market”
Which Computer? Jan'81
A smart , fully self-contained
desk-topunit- that’sthe
SUPERBRAIN microcomputer.
It will operate as a complete
business system, as a word
processor (allied to a high
quality printer) and as an
intelligent terminal.
• 320K,680Kand 1.5 MB disc drives
• Wide range of standard packages
• Full graphics facility
• Nationwide dealer network
SUPE3BRAIN
The Icarus dealer network
ABRAXAS COMPUTER
EMPLOYMENT, 357 Euston Road,
LONDON NW1 3AL.
Tel: 01 388 2061
A.P. LTD, Maple House, Mortlake
Crescent, CHESTER CH3 5UR.
Tel: 0244 46024
AM CO LTD. Has fair Road. LEEDS
LSI0 2GP. Tel: 0532 708321
BUSINESS INFORMATION
SYSTEMS, 602 Triumph House,
189 Regent Street. LONDON
Tel: 01 437 1069
BORDER COMPUTING LTD. Dog
Kennel Lane. BUCKNELL,
Shropshire. Tel: 054 74 368
CAMBRIDGE MICRO
COMPUTERS, Cambridge Science
Park. Milton Road. CAMBRIDGE.
Tel: 0223 314666
COMMONSENSE COMPUTING
LTD, P.O. Box 7. BIDEFORD,
Devon. Tel: 02372 4795
CONQUEST COMPUTER SALES
LTD, 92 London Road. BENFLEET .
Essex. Tel: 03745 59861
CULLOVILLE LTD, Thornficld,
Woodhill Road, SANDON,
Chelmsford .jEssex. Tel: 024 541 3919
DATA PROFILE, Lawrence Road,
Green Lane, HOUNSLOW.
Middlesex. Tel: 01 446 1917
DATA WARE. 48 Eaton Drive.
KINGSTON, Surrey KT2 7QX.
Tel: 01 546 2984
DAYTA, 20b West Street, Wilton,
SALISBURY. Wilts.
Tel: 0722 74 3898
DRAGON SYSTEMS LTD, 17
W’alter Street, SWANSEA, W. Glam.
Tel: 0792 749486
DUPLEX COMMUNICATIONS, 2
Lcirc Lane, Dunton Bassett,
Lutterworth, LEICESTERSHIRE.
Tel: 0455 209131
EASIBEE COMPUTING LTD,
133/135 High Street, LONDON
E6 1HZ. Tel: 01 471 4884
ESCO COMPUTING LTD, 154
Cannongatc. EDINBURGH.
Tel: 031 557 3937
ESCO COMPUTING LTD, 40a
Gower Street. GLASGOW G51 1PH.
Tel: 041 427 5497
EFFICIENT BUSINESS SYSTEMS,
9 Clarence Street . BELFAST 1 , N .
Ireland. Tel: 0232 647 538
E.M.G. MICROS, 30 Heathfield
Road. CROYDON, Surrey.
Tel: 01 688 0088
EMTEK, 40 South Furzeham Road.
BRIXHAM, Devon. Tel: 08045 3566
FARMFAX LTD, 17 Hviton Road,
PETERSFI ELD. Hants.
Tel: 0730 66123
G.T. OFFICE SYSTEMS, 12
Clovellv Road, LONDON W5 5HE.
Tel: 01 567 9959
JAEMMA LTD, Unit 24, Lee Bank
House, Hollowav Head, Lee Bank,
BIRMINGHAM. Tel: 021 643 1609
JENNINGS COMPUTER
SERVICES, 55/57 Faglcv Road,
BRADFORD. W. Yorks
Tel: 0274 637867
LONDON COMPUTER CENTRE,
43 Grafton Way, LONDON W1 .
Tel: 01 388 5721
MICROAGE LTD, 53 Acton Road,
LONG EATON, Nottinghamshire.
Tel: 06076 64264
MASS MICROS. Wcllson House.
Brownfields. Welwyn Garden City.
Tel: 96 3 1436
MICRO-K, 186 Martin Way,
MORDEN, Surrey. Tel: 01 543 1119
MICRO SOLUTION LTD. Park
Farm House, Hcythrop, CHIPPING
NORTON, Oxon. Tel: 0608 3256
M1TESH MICROSYSTEMS L I D,
66 Wooton Drive, Grove Hill,
HEMEL HEMPSTEAD, Herts.
Tel: 0442 40341
NORTHERN COMPUTERS LTD,
128 Walton Road, Stockton Heath,
WARRINGTON. Tel: 0925 601683
OMEGA ELECTRIC LTD,
Flaxlev Mill, Flaxley Road,
MITCHELDEAN, Clos.
Tel: 045 276 532
MICROCOMPUTER
SPACEDROME, 12 Dene Road,
Southgate, LONDON Nil 1ES.
Tel: 01 368 9002
RANMOR COMPUTING LTD.
Nelson House, 2 Nelson Mews,
SOUTHEND-ON-SEA.
Tel: 0702 339262
ROG1S SYSTEMS LTD, Keepers
Lodge, Frittcnden, NR.
CRANBROOK, Kent.
Tel: 058 080 310
S.D.M. COMPUTER SERVICES.
Broadwav, BEB1NGTON. Merseyside
L63 5ND. Tel: 051 608 9365
S.M.G. MICROS, 39 Windmill
Street, GRAVESEND. Kent.
Tel: 0474 55813
SAPPHIRE SYSTEMS, 19-27 Kents
Hill Road. BENFLEET, Essex.
Tel: 03745 59756
SHEFFIELD COMPUTER
CENTRE, 225 Abbevdalc Road,
SHEFFIELD S7 1FJ. Tel: 0742 53519
SORTFIELD LTD. E. Floor,
Milburn House, Dean Street,
NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE.
Tel: 0632 329593
SPOT COMPUTER SYSTEMS
LTD, New Street, Kclham Street
Indus. Estate, DONCASTER,
S. Yorks. Tel: 0302 25159
STUKELEY COMPUTER
SERVICES. Barnhill. STAMFORD.
Lines. Tel: 0780 4947
TERMACRE LTD, 126 Woodwarde
Road. LONDON SE22 8TU.
Tel: 01 693 3037
THAMES VALLEY COMPUTERS,
10 Maple Close, MAIDENHEAD,
Berks. Tel: 0628 23532
TURNKEY COMPUTER
TECHNIQUE, 23Caldcrglen Road.
St. Leonards, EAST KILBRIDE.
Tel: 03552 39466
THE COMPUTER ROOM, 87 High
Street, Tunbridge, Kent
Tel: 0732 355962
WELSH BUSINESS SYSTEMS
LTD. I Windsor Chambers, Windsor
Arcade. PENARTH. Tel: 0222 700059
WING SYSTEMS LTD, 406
Winchester Road, SOUTHAMPTON.
Tel: 0703 768338
Computer Systems Ltd.
Icarus Computer Systems Ltd. Deane House 27 Greenwood Place London NW51NN Tel: 01 -485 5574 Telex: 264209
• Circle No. 310
217
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
“PETCLOCK”
REAL-TIME CLOCK-CALENDAR FOR THE PET
★ Entirely self-contained with battery back-up
★ Gives date day of week, and time (hour/minute/second)
Use for: ★ Automatic date-printing for business programs
★ Variable frequency interrupts for event timing
★ More accurate alternative to CBM internal clock
Real-time Clock-Calendar Type GCC1 plugs into the User Port of any PET. No wiring or
external power supply is required
Accuracy is maintained when the PET is switched off. A lithium battery is used; it needs
no recharging, and has a typical life of 10 years.
Software is provided which is easily incorporated into any Basic or Machine Language
program. Date and time may be printed on the screen, returned in a character string for
easy manipulation, or saved in any area of memory for further processing.
The Clock will also generate interrupts at preset intervals, which may be used for timing
in data acquisition systems.
Accuracy: 10 secs/month. Initial calibration is against equipment phase-locked to the
Droitwich standard frequency transmission. Format: Time 23:59:59 (24-hour); Date to
31:12:99 + 0-6 (day of week). Interrupts: at 0.125, 0.25, 0.5, 1, 2. 4, and 8 second
intervals, into CA1 line. Software: on tape or disc. UK and US format Basic programs.
Relocatable Machine Language programs.
Price £62.00 inc. postage. VAT extra.
35K OF MEMORY FOR THE VIC-20
VIC SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT SYSTEM
35K of RAM/ROM expansion
Simple plug-in printed board — no power supply needed
Expand memory as required with plug-in memory modules
INSTANT ROM battery back-up memory for Auto-run programs
Ideal for software development and industrial use
SEND for full leaflets.
INSTANT ROM and PETCLOCK' are Commodore approved products.
GREENWICH INSTRUMENTS LIMITED
22 BARDSLEY LANE, GREENWICH, LONDON SE10 9RF, UK.
Tel: 01-853 0868.
• Circle No. 311
preprints
If you are interested in a particular article/special
feature or advertisement in this journal
Have a good look at
our Reprint Service!
We offer an excellent, reasonably priced service
working to your own specifications to produce a
valuable and prestigeous addition to your
promotional material. (Minimum order 250 copies)
Telephone Martin Bloomfield on 01-661 3036
or complete and return the form below.
To: Martin Bloomfield,
PCO Room 211 A, Quadrant House,
Sutton, Surrey SM2 5AS.
I am interested in copies of article/advert.
headed featured in this journal
on pages issue dated
Please send me full details of your reprint service
by return of post.
Name
Company
Address
Tel. No.
THREE REALLY USEFUL CP/M PROGRAMMES FROM WESTERN DIGITAL SYSTEMS
** VIDEO-TYPER **
Copyright Western Digital Systems 1980, 1981
Vancouver. British Columbia
’WOULD YOU LIKE TO TOUCH-TYPE at an EFFORTLESS 80 to 100 WORDS PER
MINUTE?
The slowest interface in any computer system is that between you and it! VIDEO-TYPER
uses the latest Speed-learning techniques to develop YOUR typing skills to the highest
level of Speed and Accuracy you can achieve. Learn fast, yet at your own pace. Runs on
any 44K+ CP/M microcomputer. (Experienced VDU operators and secretaries really
enjoy using it, too!)
Try These > - = > The exercise line to be typed is shown here < <
Type Here > > The exercise line when typed is shown here < < 61 Points
That's 88°o Accurate at 80 Words Per Minute
Enter 1 to do that line again, 2 for the next line or 3 for the Menu => ?
-\-
— \-
=\-
:space - bar:
— J Graphic Display
Instructions for the Word and Sentence Typing Exercises
1 — > This program gives a progressive series of exercises, starting on the Home Keys.
As you develop your skills, you progress to nearby keys. Just copy-type the Try These
> lines of letters, words and sentences. EXACTLY, into the Type Here >7
space beneath: observe the screen!
Status: WORDS Skill Level 6 User Control Total => 1050 <= Score
Instructions for the Key-finder Programme
6— > Keyfinder gives you this Graphic Display' Keyboard picture to see instantly which
key you re pressing. You'll find this lets you create skills with which you'll soon be typinq
without even having to think! Just relax, tap the keys, and observe the results of what
you're doing.
The programme includes KEY LOCATION. NUMBER AND PARAGRAPH exercises.
Be sure to specify Disc Format; Screen Control codes (and Keyboard layout if possible).
£49.50
> > BUY ANY TWO — GET ONE FREEH! < <
** ENCIPHERING / DECIPHERING PACKAGE **
Computer Fraud / Piracy / Seizure / Theft / Invasion of privacy / Interference
Have you ever worried about Data Security?
Now there is a way to encipher all sensitive CP/M ★ Disk Data and Proqram Files. (Text.
Machine Code, etc.) making them SECURE.
You issue the enciphering command using any one of HUNDREDS of MILLIONS of
passwords. Within seconds, the file is enciphered, and written back in place on disc The
difference is that the file itself is now TOTALLY different. The disc can be taken away and
examined at length with disc editors, DDT. disassemblers or what have you. This will
reveal ABSOLUTELY NOTHING RECOGNIZABLE.
Without EXACTLY the correct password(s), (i.e. if you forget' a password) there is
nothing even we can do to recall the data or Program.
Of course, if the file is enciphered, Data cannot be modified.
Indeed, unsuccessful attempts to decipher the file can only make matters worse.
★ You can even use multiple passwords to re-encipher already enciphered files
★ You can safely transmit enciphered Files by Modem or Data Courier.
★ Yet. your use of the correct password restores the file in seconds.
★ So. you can stop worrying about your data falling into the wrong hands.
★ We think £50.00 excl. is a very modest price to pay for this.
★ When ordering, specify your computer model and disc format required.
£49.50
*** DISC-MASTER DIRECTORY DATABASE ***
Now you can create, maintain and access a CP/M Disc Contents Database.
n?r^!S"iS!iL a , r ! m ? chine :'' 1 f ad directly from each Disc s Directory tracks into a Master
Directory Database, along with a disc Title and Number chosen by you.
T? u °? n k Ind * in seconds > an Y or all files by name and/or type and/or disc title and/
any 0f ,heS o’ and see them lis,ed nea,, y in columns in Alpha-
numeric order, on the Screen or at the Printer. H
You can. for example, find:- All files which meet the CP/M wild-cards'
PROGRAM. COM or *. LET
Z L + T or ?R2D2*. COM
or R2D2.^ or C3P0*. R?2
° r ?!! 1 f 1 * i, ®5 n °i an V name fc LET on any disc Titled ★LETTER and Numbered 10 to 19
★ Unlike spec,fy . ,nstrin 9s :- for example, any file name with GJ in it
★ are easy and automatic, adding and removing entries as appropriate
★ Wh™ nrH W ^° Uses h J asystem wonders how they ever managed without it'
★ When ordering, specify Computer model, and disc format you require
£49.50
>> DEALER ENQUIRIES WELCOME <<
> > ORDERS TO:- INDEXCHECK LTD.. 36 TRINITY RD.. LONDON SW17 TEL 01-672 1132 < <
* * WE PURCHASE MANY OF THE POPULAR MICRO PACKAGES DIRECT IN THE U S ASK US
★ ★ FOR OUR LOW PRICE QUOTATION ON YOUR REQUIREMENTS. WE CAN SAVE YOU£££'s ★★
218
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
a POWERFUL
MULTI-USER SYSTEM
J of multi
ENLO ACE MULTI-'
... . ^
The only genuine Micro m — r
readily available with the full range o
user facilities.
With the CLENLO ACE multi-user system up to
sixteen users each have exclusive use of a Z-80A
processor and 64K RAM mounted on a S-100
board, each with a serial RS-232
I/O port to which the user's VDU
is attached.
The multi-user system is
housed in a standard S-100
mainframe chassis enabling
individual users to run pro-
grams independently and
simultaneously, while still
having access to shared
resources (hard disc storage,
printers etc.) - via the S-100
BUS Inter Processor
Communication channel.
All this activity is controlled
byaDPC/OS multi-user
operating system running in
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creating a complete CP/M Ver
2.2 environment for each user.
CLENLO
Microcomputers
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W/inc bpctru cau i urci.
_ . memory to memory data transfer.
□ Enhanced batch submit facility.
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□ Automatic print spooling
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Whether you want a basic
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For more details of the best
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CLENLO COMPUTING
SYSTEMS, Telephone
01-670 4202/3.
To: CLENLO COMPUTING SYSTEMS LIMITED,
Crown House, 18 Gypsy Hill, London SE19 1 NL.
Telephone: 01-670 4202/3.
□ Please send me details of your
ACE MULTI-USER SYSTEM.
Q Please send me details of the
complete CLENLO range.
Name
Position _
Company
Address
Telephone
• Circle No. 312
219
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
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I of CP/
MICROPRO
LIST
Wordstar™ 3-X
£250
Mail Merge
£ 60
Data Star
£170
Supersort I
£120
Spellstar(USA dictionary)
£120
Calcstar
£150
JJ^Compiler Systems
CB80
£280
(True Compiler)
MICROSOFT
LIST
Basic-80 Interpreter
£150
Basic Compiler
£190
Fortran-80
£210
Cobol-80
£310
MISC
LIST
Compiler Systems
CBasic-2
£ 65
Sorcim
Pascal/M
£120
Sorcim
Supercalc
£170
AshtonTate
d Base II
£380
rfjSpEcosoft MicroStat
£150
I Organic
Milestone
£160
(critical path)
V^r VI — —
Other Products constantly being added to our range.
Send large s.a.e. for latest list
TRADE ENQUIRIES WELCOME
Ordering Instructions:
Cash with order. Specify disk format.
Add £3.00 per item P&P. Add 15% VAT
option
PO BOX 11 CRANBROOK KENT*
TN172DF Tel: (058 080) 310
• Circle No. 316
NEW CASIO FP-10 MINI PRINTER
/
ir
@ j
7
(RRP
AN INCREDIBLE £44.95
Compatible with the FX-501P. FX-502P. FX-601P, FX-602P and FX-702P
Manual and program results printout. Memory and program listing.
FP-10 electric discharge mini printer A remarkably clear 5 x 7 dot matrix printout of 20
characters per line. Up to 30 characters store/printout over 1 ' 2 lines, with overload
symbol. Fast 2 lines/second print speed Aluminised paper rolls are approx 2.500 lines/
30 feet long. Connects directly to the calculator, or via FA-2 cassette interface Four AA
batteries will print approx 6,000-9.600 lines Rechargeable pack NP-4M. 13.000 lines.
(£6 90) AC adaptor AD-4150 will recharge NP-4M, in situ. (£5). Printer rolls £2.50 per
pack of five. Dims: 43.5H x 157 5W x 82 5D (1% x 6’/." x 3VO weight 372g (13.1oz)
FX-602P. 512 program steps With FREE MlCROL PPP (£9 95) £74.95
FX-702P. Basic pocket computer 1680 to 80 program steps 26 to 226 memories, all
non-volatile FREE MlCROL PPP. Cl 19 95
MlCROL PROCOS. Professional Programming solutions on tape £24 95
DISCOUNTS ON SOFTWARE WHEN YOU BUY YOUR HARDWARE FROM US.
Catalogue of Casio calculators, keyboards and watches and further information on the
602P or 702P and PROCOS on request (14p stamp).
Price includes VAT. P&P. Delivery normally by return Send cheques. P O or phone
your Access or Barclaycard number to -
TEMPUS
Dept PCW,
38 Burleigh Street,
Cambridge CB1 IDG.
Tel: 0223 312866.
• Circle No. 317
„ - . , > MICRO COMPUTER
T-N-Pickarql- aERV1CES
■' ■ ' HOLLAND ROAD.
CLACTON-ON- SEA.
ESSEX.
fWI CLACTON 2901 H.
, ;n #ppta«*nputar
GENIE 1 SYSTEM 48K 2 disk drives and 12 inch green
screen monitor £1060
GENIE II SYSTEM As above with double density drives
£1145
APPLE II Europlus as above £1390
Free with all above — purchase ledger system worth £200
GENIE I 16K £299
GENIE II 16K £310
EPSON MX80T Printer £299
MX80 F/T £335
MONITORS 12 inch B/W £69
GREEN SCREEN £79
computer consumables . . .
11 x 9.5 inch continuous plain paper with perforated
sprockets £12.00 per box of 2000 sheets
Labels 1.44 x 4 inch 2 across on web £7.50 per 1000
Floppy disks £16.50 per box of 10 (Memorex)
£1 7.50 per box of 10 (Verbatim)
Don't worry if you can't see what you want; ring us and we
will give you a quote. ■BHH| mam
Postage at cost. All items plus VAT. ^ 1754
• Circle No. 318
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
221
SYSTEMS
CONFERENCE & EXHIBITION
CUNARD INTERNATIONAL
HOTEL, LONDON
MAY 5-7 1982
Videotex Systems '82 provides the ideal opportunity for
manufacturers and suppliers of specialist services to display
their products and demonstrate their expertise within the field of
private videotex systems. The event is the second in this unique
series of annual conferences and exhibitions, which are entirely
dedicated to this new area of information technology.
The exhibition, which will be run in parallel with a major
conference, organised on behalf of The Association of
Viewdata Information Providers (AVIP), is designed to promote
a business-like atmosphere, conducive to the practical
discussion of technical and business matters. In addition to the
conference, there will be a series of workshops, at which
exhibitors will be able to make detailed presentations of their
products.
Set in the comfortable surroundings of the Cunard Hotel,
London, the event and venue gives every facility to the
discerning businessman. Sponsored by Viewdata & TV User
and organised by IPC Exhibitions Ltd, the event has the full
backing of IPC Business Press, the world’s largest publishers of
specialist and business journals. Utilising these resources, a
comprehensive publicity campaign is sure to attract the highest
quality visitors to the event.
Be sure of your participation in
this important event, fill in and
return this coupon now!
Return to The Sales Manager. Videotex Systems 82. IPC Viewdata Ltd. Room 1203.
Quadrant House. The Quadrant, Sutton, Surrey SM2 5AS or telephone 01 -661 3500.
I am interested in receiving more details on The Exhibition
NAME
COMPANY
ADDRESS .
1
I
I
J
LONDON COMPUTER CENTRE
NEW! EMPEROR 11
£2,150 by TELEVIDEO
made under licence for MicroVideo Ltd., world wide
distributors of the Emperor range of micro computer
business Systems.
^ m . u u, . * Built in 1 Mb We dual disk drives.
★ Detachable keyboard with 12 function keys (Wordstar
option).
★ Green screen — true descenders.
. * Full graphic capabilities.
★ CPM operating systems. Supports MmmOST.
★ 64K Ram. Real time clock.
* Expandable to multi-user system and hard disks.
Options:
1 .5.M byte floppy disk drives • 1 0 Mbyte hard disk • Multi user
U P to 16 user • Demonstrations on all models.
ALL PRICES ARE EXCLUSIVE OF VAT AND DELIVERY
DEALER ENQUIRIES INVITED ON ALL PRODUCTS
43 GRAFTON WAY, LONDON W1P 5LA (Opposite Maples)
Tel: 388 6991/2 OPENING HOURS: 11-7 MON-FRI 12-4 P SAT
24 hour answer phone: 01-388 5721
• Circle No. 320
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
PET PRINTER GRAPHICS
by COMPUTACE LTD . North Star Horizon
sift Mini' rrnTTiTmym~m 1 1 n 1 1 n 1 1 it
V Rx is
/ / ^
- > / ,> --- ■
/ / / •'-X \ \ \ i
!// \ \ \ \3
n ■ f •
- 4a ,• / /
%/x
: te>( " ..
•A A. >:'• ^ » >- -•*
vw
WVN^<C^^__VW
I i *••' •*!. y S I -A*
fe<^
r.A x... ^
}K. K x \ _-[/
Tv v >=-r — • V e *7! l_i ei nr i on«j
tyy^ —
' ■ ; v=v0+r*SIN <62 >
V=V0-RJf:C0S < 02 >
Where fi=l-G2/50tr u
R=2#fl
V0=S#fi
X0«l+fl
:=<: Rk is I
I JXi 1 II 1 l i l 11 >1 I 1 1 1 ^ 1 I 1 11 I 1 -1 l *- j. 1 1 1 l- L J-l-
iS 1 ^ - s
COMPUTACE LTD., INFABCO
GROUP, International Base,
Greenwell Rd., East Tullos,
ABERDEEN AB1 4AX
TEL: (0224) 876622.
For fastest reply use:-
COMPUTACE LTD.,
PO BOX 50D
NEW MALDEN, SURREY KT3 3BD
This graph is a typical
example printed by
AUTOGRAPH on a
STANDARD COMMODORE
3022 or 4022 PRINTER.
(Please specify when ordering)
No disk drive or plotter required
Simple to use. Hard copy.
Fully flexible graph
dimensions and position on
page. Automatic scale
option. Variable background
formats. Plots any X,Y
function. Multiple graphs
on same axes. Full
Alphanumeric labelling for
professional quality
presentation:
AUTOGRAPH is supplied with
extensive documentation.
Send for Brochure.
AUTOGRAPH 1 (16K. 32K only)
Plots any function as illus.
or in spaced dots. £39.50 incl.
AUTOGRAPH 2 I16K, 32K only)
As Autograph 1 but
includes data point plot
option with joining lines
and marking circles. Autographs
1 and 2 combined pack. £49.50 incl
CURVE FIT 1 (32 K only)
Powerful Linear and Non-
Linear Regression of any
function to a least squares
data fit. Complete with plot
of regressed curve & data.
£55.50 incl.
CURVE FIT 0
As Curve Fit 1 plus Cubic
Spline Fit, Integrals and
Gradients throughout.
£65.50 incl.
Send for Brochure and details of
combined packs at reduced prices.
Including: Epson Printers and Oxford
Computer Systems Compiler.
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
• Circle No. 321
223
SUPERSORfl?
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 19
224
MBatopw Soflaware at less cost than Ifficropro Softwra^
II
cm®
FOR BUDGET PLANS, SALES
FORECASTS, CASH FLOW
ANALYSIS, AND FOR EVALUA-
TING THE POTENTIAL EFFECT
OF FINANCIAL DECISIONS.
THE POWERFUL REPORT
GENERATOR, TO TAKE THE
PLACE OF CONVENTIONAL
PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE
IN BUSINESS APPLICATIONS
IN AREAS ONLY PREVIOUSLY
ACCESSIBLE THROUGH MINIS
AND MAINFRAMES.
' “PROOFREADER” ON A DISK
- A SPELLING CHECKER
PROGRAM THAT WORKS
WITH WORDSTAR™ TO
IDENTIFY SPELLING ERROR
IN CONTEXT.
THE POWERFUL COMPREHEN-
SIVE DATA ENTRY RETRIEVAL |
AND UPDATE SYSTEM FOR
MICRO SYSTEMS.
W/A
VJ
/ /M
WORDSTAR
THE SCREEN ORIENTATED
INTEGRATED WORD PROCESS-
ING SYSTEM SPECIFICALLY
DESIGNED FOR NON-
TECHNICAL PERSONNEI
SUPERIOR SORTING, MERGING
ANDSELECTING POWERWITH
UNMATCHED SPEED AND
CONVENIENCE.
THE POWERFUL FILE
MERGING TOOL
This discount offer is
available for a limited
period only-Please tick
appropriate box and send
the correct remittance to
the address below before
March 31st 1982.
GRAHAM DORIAN
SOFTWARE SYSTEMS LTD
l nit .18.
Simons Pnrk Avenue.
I vnrley. Rending.
Berks. rch> i a /
<)714-(»(i4141/(>
|cp/m prices!
|apple prices!
REC.
RETAIL
PRICE
GDSS
DISCOUNT
PRICE
MANUAL
REC.
RETAIL
PRICE
GDSS
DISCOUNT
PRICE
MANUAL
£285.00
£195.00
£25.00
£215.00
El 45.00
£25.00
£ 85.00
£ 55.00
£15.00
£ 70.00
£ 50.00
£15.00
£145.00
£105.00
£15.00
£1 15.00.
£ 75.00
£15.00
£200.00
£150.00
£25.00
£145.00
£105.00
£20.00
El 15.00
£ 80.00
£20.00
£115.00
£ 80.00
£20.00
NOT
VET RELEASED
£170.00
£120.00
£20.00
£140.00
£ 75.00
£20.00
£ 85.00
£ 60.00
£20.00
N.A.
N.A.
N.A.
□ WORDSTAR
□ MAILMERGE
□ SPELLSTAR
□ DATASTAR
□ SUPERSORT I
□ SUPERSORT II
D INFOSTAR
□ CALCSTAR
□ WORDMASTER
*k‘®* ' „ i . nclu J ,es manual - II manual purchased Initially, 100% credit If software purchased
Traiarma^rof M * C p ar 'i f ta [' W0rdStar-Mallmer9e ' SUPer8Or1 ' Spe " S,a,lln ' OS,arsndWorcimas,erar0al1
notfee K ' M Pr ° ln,erna,lonal Corp. • Prices do not Include VAT and are subject to change without
THE
MICRO SOLUTION
HARDWARE
BRITISH GENIUS AND SUPERBRAINS
AVAILABLE FROM STOCK \
DISC OPTIONS (5:", 8" and Winchesters — i*
integral storage up to 9MB)
WIDE RANGE OF PRINTERS (Qume, NEC,
Diablo, Sanders, Anadex, Dolphin etc.)
HIGHLY COMPETITIVE CASH AND CARRY
PRICES
OUR OWN ENGINEERING MAINTENANCE
SERVICE (24hr response contracts)
HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE SUPPORT
FROM THE PROFESSIONALS
DEALER ENQUIRIES WELCOME
MICRO SOLUTION APPLICATION SOFTWARE
—INTEGRATED ACCOUNTING SYSTEM £1,000
—STOCK CONTROL £450
—BILL OF MATERIALS
—PAYROLL
£450
.from £250
The Accounting System includes:
—Full double-entry accounting
— Sales/Purchase/Nominal Ledgers + VAT
—Sales Invoicing
—Trial Balance/Profit & Loss
—Open Item or Balance Forward
—Up to the minute Enquiry facility
—Alphanumeric Account codes etc.
Stock Control includes:
—Order processing
— Invoice/Delivery Note printing
—Reordering and Valuation reports
Bill of Materials includes:
—Maintenance of Assembly structures
—Multi-level Parts Explosion
— Assembly Component cost calculation
—Requirement Breakdown by period
Payroll System includes:
— Up to 15 Gross and Net pay fields
—Retention of historical dates
— Pension and Holiday pay calculation
—Special Stationery available
—Multi departments
—Up to 9999 employees
COMPILERS AND UTILITIES
—Microfocus CIS-COBOL compiler £425
—Microfocus FORMS-2 utility £100
— Micro Soliftion REPORTER
(CIS-COBOL Report Generator) £100
—Microsoft MBASIC interpreter £165
—Microsoft BASIC 80 compiler £200
—Microsoft COBOL 80 compiler £390
—Microsoft FORTRAN 80 compiler £260
—Microsoft MACRO 80 assembler £85
NEW PRODUCT
—SPELLBINDER word-processing £250
—WORDSTAR word-processing £230
— Mail Merge option for above £75
— DATASTAR data management £160
— SUPERSOFT sort/merge £130
— BSTAM (CP/M micro file transfer) £75
—TTY (teletype emulator) £180
—MICROMODELLER finance planning £645
— CBASIC compiler £75
BCPL COMPILER £250
Contact:
Park Farm House
Heythrop
Chipping Norton
OXFORDSHIRE
OX7 5TW
telephone:
CHIPPING NORTON (0608) 3256
ask for: Bill Whaley
or
Bede Dunlop
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
• Circle No. 323
225
COMPUTER SUPPLIES
FOR MINI AND MICROCOMPUTERS
We can supply the great majority of microcomputer
related products at really competitive prices.
DISKETTES Nashua. Verbatim. Hast.
5 1 /*" DSDD (packs of 10) from £19.62
MV' SSSD (packs of 10) from £17.09
V/4" DSSD (packs of 10) from £17.09
RIBBONS Low and High Speed Printers
OUME Multi-strike Film Ribbon . . . from £2.30 each
All ribbons available in singles or in 12s
LISTING PAPER
Plain I I" X W I part 00 gsm 1,000 sheets . . . £8.32
(Other sizes and paper quality available)
BLANK CASSETTES
^ I- from 38p each
LIBRARY STORAGE CASES
5'/4 m 10 Disk capacity from £1.96 each
Postage and packing from £1.50 V.A.T. not included
• We sell Apple, Commodore.
VIC 20, ACT. HP, Computers.
• 24 hr Service Contracts.
• ACCESS & VISA WELCOME.
BEST DISCOUNT PRICES
33/35 Portugal Rd. ( Dept. PC). Woking. Surrey GIT* I SJE
Tel: Woking (04862) 21776
DATALECT
I COMPUTERS ■
• Circle No. 324
MACHINE LANGUAGE MADE SIMPLE
ZX80 ANOZX8I
if This new book is a must for any SINCLAIR user who
* make ,U " USe of his S'NCLAIR 2X80 and 4*
Jf rvr.l: Go be y° nd Basic into the world of MACHINE t
* f- ANG UAGE PROGRAMMING and open computer {
J hori ^ns you never thought possible! Learn how to use *
h cmr ; yopwootuic: LCaillllUW IU US
the SINCLAIR computer's own language and finally
find out what PEEK and POKE is all about'
MORE COMPUTING POWER IN LESS
■ SPACE! FASTER
I RUNNING PROGRAMS!
I Written for the complete beginner as
I well as for the experienced
■ SINCLAIR user. MACHINE
I LANGUAGE MADE SIMPLE has
I over 120 pages packed with
I programming techniques, hints and
*
*
*
*
*
4c
4c
4c
4c
4c
4c
4c
4c
4c
4c
4c
4c
4c
If that Apple
is just out of Reach. . . .
Kfent One!
If you have a short term requirement for a micro*
ftfalsy wheels, matrix, graphics), monitors
orange, colour, fcf-res), tfisfc <toiv<$ {ringfeMouMe
tensity and Winchesters), and * huge mage of
software mriadrag Vacate, Vfeittex, WWdSter,
Format -80, Magic Window, Micraniodcller,
ARM, The Last One, CIS Cobof and ali account-
tag programs.
This tutorials, com- ,
CP/M and mSCM, software, alas hrip nod
advip from friendly, professional pt-opte.
A complete system cat) In; working for you nrtfiOt a
few days uf your enquiry from as little as £12,00
pwt
01*729 1411/2
Atlanta Data Systems
^f50/356_Qld_Street, London, EC1V 9bT. 01-739 5889
• Circle No. 325
9" BLACK & WHITE
MONITOR
32K ADD-ON RAM
WRITE YOUR OWN MACHINE LANGUAGE
_ programs...
gpOHSaSHBr-l
* _ £8.95 (plus 50P p&p) 4c
J FOR YOUR zxeo a ” " ”m7 "p7e"*
I Orders to: Melbourne House Publishers. 131 Trafalgar Rd, London SE10
■ U^ghtonBuzzard SSSSSSIRS^ H ° USe ' S ' a "° n R ° Chet W
I Please enclose cheque or P O lor C9 45 per copy Orders ouls.de me UK C9 95
■ NAME
■ ADDRESS
PC 2/82
• Circle No. 326
with every purchase of latest model of
I 'jnppkzlf
ouroplus
ft TWIN DISC
DRIVE SYSTEM
(as illustratad)
Note: This is NOT a cheap U.S. import, but the genuine
article backed up by the full one year warranty
# Apple 11 europlus 16K (incl one year warranty)
# 32K Add on memory # * FREE ##
# 9" Black b White monitor b cable ## FREE ##
# 3.3 DOS Disc drive & controller
# 2nd 3.3 Disc drive
(SYSTEM VALUE £1,684 + VAT 4 - P&P = TOTAL PRICE £1,953*"
for
£1412
4- VAT + P.P
TOTAL PRICE
£1640
APPLE III AVAILABLE NOW
All prices correct at going to press. Allow 28 days delivery. CALLERS WELCOME
Send cheques, money order, bankers draft, cash with order to:
CA RLTON COMPUTERS LIMITED
4 Swanstons Road, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk NR30 3NQ.
Tel: Gt Yarmouth (0493) 58898
3
226
• Circle No. 327
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
attebbtion;
lTUnu du‘
£
CPS Multifunction card 115.00
16K Ram expansion card 69.95
64K Expansion card 199.95
Disk Emulator software for
64K card 29.95
128K Ram card (hi-speed
software disk emulator) 350.00
Time Machine II clock/calend.
4- multi-tasking 69.95
Videx 80 col. card *
switchplate 199.95
, 12” green-phosphor monitor
k (the same as advertised at
£
115.00
115.00
£180, different label)
same monitor but B&W
Colour monitor — lowest
price! 210.00
Epson MX80 FT/2 375.00
Centronics 737 335.00
Centronics 739 (737
* graphics) 399.00
CX80 colour printer (parr.) 745.00
CX80 colour printer (ser.) 797.00
Z80 CPU card • CP/M 11 5.00 J
this is only a selection of the many items on our menu
— some of our prices are too low to be printed
so — phone for absolutely the best
prices on Apple II and Apple III corn-
peripherals, software and
books
0 r °ALl PRICtS'^
Drop in for a byte at:
THE BROMLEY COMPUTER SHOP
49 Beckenham Lane
Shortlands
Bromley, Kent
01-460-2580
01-464-0541
• Circle No. 328
TRS-80 Ml&lll
Superior Disk Software
ELECTRIC SPREADSHEET - oat your hoart out
VisiCalc users — this second generation product takes over where VisiCalc left off.
Mod l/lll £39.50/£43.50
STRINGSPEED — ever wondered why programs with more than a few
strings occasionally appear to stop, sometimes for minutes, and then re-start — well its
because your interpreter is reorganising the string pool — STRINGSPEED dramatically
reduces reorganisation times. With 1,000 active strings reorganisation is cut from 150
secs to just 4.5 secs, with 4,000 active strings from 2,300 sec^ to just 22 secs - over
100 x faster. Mod 11/111 £54.50/£43.50
AUTOM APcreates formatted screens and automates the programmers
task of communicating and displaying information with the user operator By reducing
this task to simple SEND and RECEIVE commands. AUTOMAP will dramatically
increase your programming productivity.
Mod ll/lll £54.50/£43.50
AUTOFILEmakes for easier, faster random access file handling. No more
need for FIELD, MKI$, LSET, CVS etc. as all conversions are now handled directly by
your interpreter. Requires no user memory.
Mod ll/lll £3.50/£35.00
T AS M O Nis simply the best monitor available and has far too many features to
list here — write or call for details. Mod l/lll £17.00
NEW IDOPLUS a superior DO processor, SMARTTERM a communications
oackaqe SPOOL-80 a true disk to printer despooler, RENTALS lease/rental stock
control, WIZARDS CASTLE & DUNGEON ESCAPE — wizard adventures!
Prices exclude VAT but Include postage and packing
For a detailed catalogue send 75p to:
SYSTEM SOFT
49 Dunvegan Drive, Rise Park, Nottingham NG5 5DX.
Tel: (0602) 275559
• Circle No. 329
BOOKS FROM
w MICROs ni !Rf F
NEW! NEW!
GRAPHIC SOFTWARE FOR
MICRO COMPUTERS
by B. J. Korites
Over 100 LISTINGS IN BASIC THEORY from simple Algebra to Matrix
theory.
Suitable for BEGINNERS/SCHOOLS. COLLEGES.
Starts from plotting points to sophisticated 3D Hidden Line Removal,
perspective and shading.
WRITTEN FOR APPLE II but easily adapted for RESEARCH MACHINES
3807
BOOK £15.95 inc P&P
DISK of BASIC LISTINGS for the APPLE £15.95 inc P&P
2 DISKS of the same programs in MACHINE CODE £18.95 inc P&P
S0FTALK
In the USA this is the leading Apple Magazine. Why haven’t you heard of it?
Well, it is distributed free, but only to Apple Owners in the States. It is big and
densely packed with articles and useful information. More even than
MICRO. CALL APPLE and NIBBLE! Unfortunately we can’t offer it free
because it is so expensive to ship across the Atlantic — it’s so heavy!
For sample copy and details of how to receive it regularly send £3 to the
address below.
COMING SOON — SOFTLINK the companion Games Magazine to
SOFTALK.
Just Published
WHAT’S WHERE IH THE APPLE
By William Luebbert
The Atlas of Peeks, Pokes and Calls — listed numerically and alphabeti-
Suitable for APPLESOFT INTEGER and MACHINE CODE programmers,
covers both BASICS, Monitor and DOS.
128 pages Ly.yb
Another New Book.
ALL ABOUT APPLESOFT
THE Guide to Applesoft. Articles on all aspects of Using Applesoft BASIC
Arrays — Variables. Hi Res Machine Code etc etc — full of listings,
proqrams and subroutines. A must for all Applesoft programmers.
Published by CALL APPLE *9.95 me P&P
BENEATH APPLE DOS.
By Don Worth & Peter Lechner. A Technical Gold Mine of the secrets of
DOS (3.3 and 3.2). Explanation of how the disk is formatted and accessed
as well as detailed listings of the routines. £1 1.95 inc P&P
MICRO on the APPLE
A series of Volumes of Articles on the Apple from MICRO 6502 magazine.
No need to type the listings, all programs, on disk (included with each
volume) contains:- Utilities, Games, Graphics Education and Hardware
5nf le . s ' El 8.95
VOL 2 E18 ' 95
yQL 3 Coming Soon.
Other Books for the Apple:-
Applesoft Language
Intimate Instructions in Integer BASIC
Apple Machine Language
Apple II Users Guide
Computer Graphics Primer
All Prices Include P&P.
We don’t just sell books! We also stock a wide range of peripherals and
software and can obtain almost any Apple related item quickly and at a
There^sn’t space to feature all our products in every advert, so look for our
ads in back issues of this and other magazines. Better still, write or phone
for a quote — you can’t lose!
MICROs qurce
1 Branch Road, Park Street, St. Albans.
Tel: Park Street (0727) 72917
£ 8.20
£6.20
£10.50
£11.20
£10.50
Circle No. 330
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
227
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DEP
100 yds FROM ARCHWAY STATION & 9 BUS ROUTES
TELEPHONE 01-263 9493 263 9495
electronics
[3
P.C., 48 JUNCTION ROAD, ARCHWAY, LONDON N19 5RD
Utilises Z80, 12K level II
Basic, Integral Cassette
Deck, UHFO/P, 16K RAM,
all TRS80 features. Simply
plugs into monitor or UHF
TV. WithV.U. Meter.
PARALLEL PRINTER INTERFACE INC. CABLE £33.00
CHROMASONICS PROGRAMABLE SOUND KIT £24.94
SOUND KIT (FITTING EXTRA) £7.00
LOWER CASE KIT (FITTING EXTRA) £27.50
COLOUR KIT (FITTING EXTRA) £34.95
EXPANSION BOX WITH/WITHOUT RS232 £215/185
16K/32K RAM CARD £94/129
NEW GENIE II NOW AVAILABLE £320
APPLE
APPLE II PLUS
Apple ^ippkZ
II plus
48K Machines £649
Disk Drive with Controller £349
Disk Drive without Controller £299
Colour Card £69
Graphics Tablet £425
ACCESSORY CARDS. SOFTWARE
ALL AVAILABLE - PHONE FOR DETAILS
PRINTERS
EPSON MX80 £359
Dot-matrix printer with Pet
graphics interface. Centronics
parallel and serial. Pet and
Apple compatible. True
bidirectional, 80 cps.
EPSON MX80 FT/ 1 £399
Dual single sheet friction and
tractor, 9 wire head, true
descenders.
INTERFACES AND CABLES
for Apple II, Pet,
TRS80, RS232, UK101,
Sharp Superboard all available.
EPSON MX80 FT/ 2 £440
An FT/1 with high resolution
graphics.
EPSON MX70 £259
Tractor feed, 7 wire head
high resolution graphics.
SEIKOSHA GP80A £199
Dot matrix 5 x 7, 80 columns
30 cps. graphics, double width
characters.
JUST PHONE FOR FURTHER DETAILS
Colours
24 total. 8 for characters, 8 for border, 16
for screen mixed as you wish. Basic colours
on program keys are black, white, red, blue,
light blue, green, yellow, and purple.
Sound
3 Tone Generator for music
"White Noise" Generator for language and
sound effects.
Each Generator gives 3 octaves.
Reproduction is through TV speaker.
Character/ Line Display
22 Characters by 23 lines
64 ASCII characters, pet-type graphics
character set.
Keyboard
DIN typewriter keyboard with 8 program-
mable function possibilities via 4 special
function keys. Colours are directly
addressable from the keyboard.
Peripherals/ Accessories
VIC Datacassette with special interface to
guarantee high reliability read/write quality
(PET/CBM compatible).
PRICE ONLY £165
CASSETTE DECK with 6 free
programmes
ONLY £38.00 [Sg*
TANTEL
■MONITORS
GREEN MONITOR 9"
12" BMC Green
Hitachi professional monitors
9” Black & White
12" Black & White
£98.00
£159.00
£99.95
£149.00
PRESTEL BY TANTEL
COMMUNICATION AT YOUR FINGER TIPS FOR
BUSINESS & HOME. UPTO DATE INFO
180.000 pages of information on Travel, News, Investment, Holidays,
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£159
TANTEL IS POST OFFICE APPROVED. SEND FOR DETAILS.
DEMONSTRATION AVAILABLE AT OUR SHOWROOM
BA RCLAYCA RD
VISA
Please add VAT 1 5% to all prices. Postage on computers, printers and cassette decks charged at cost, all other items
P&P 30p Place your order using your Access or Barclaycard (Mm. tel order £5) Trade and export enquiries welcome.
ALL ITEMS CARRY A ONE YEAR GUARANTEE
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
Circle No. 334
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M ICROCOMPUTERS
Shops
Nationwide
Birmingham
19/21 Corporation Street, Birmingham, B2 4LP.
Tel: 021-632 6303.
Manager Peter Sfallard. 300 yards from Bullring Centre.
Bristol
16/20 Penn Street, Bristol, BS1 3AN. Tel: 0272 20421.
Between Holiday Inn and C & A
Chester
The Forum, Northgate Street, Chester, CHI 2BZ.
Tel: 0244 317667.
Manager: Jeremy Ashcroft. Next to the Town Hall.
Edinburgh
4 St James Centre, Edinburgh, EH1 3SR. Tel: 031-556 6217.
Manager: Colin Draper.
East end of Prices Street, St. James Centre.
Preston
1/4 Guildhall Arcade, Preston, PR1 1 HR.
Tel: 0772 59264
Manager: Jim Comisky. Directly under Guild Hall.
Manchester
12/14 St. Mary's Gate, Market Street, Manchester, Ml IPX.
Tel: 061-832 6087.
Manager Lesly Jacobs. Corner of Deansgate.
Glasgow
22/24 West Nile Street, Glasgow, G7 2PF. Tel: 04 1 -226 3349
Manager: David Livingstone.
Between Buchannan Street'and Central Station.
Sheffield
58 Leopold Street, Sheffield, SI 2GZ. Tel: 0742 750971
Manager Justin Rowles. Top of the Moor, opposite Town Hall.
Liverpool
33 Dale Street, Liverpool, L2 2HF Tel: 051-236 2828.
Manager Mark Butler.
Between the Town Hall and Magistrates Courts.
London
42 Tottenham Court Road, London, W1 9RD
Tel 01-636 0845. Manager: Vass Demosthenis.
Official Orders over £50 are welcome with normal 30 days
credit extended to bona-fide commercial and government
organisations.
A Laskys, the retail division of
Bpr the Ladbroke Group of Companies HB |Sk-|
/MICROCOMPUTERS
WORLD ^
BESTING
MICRO
ACCESSORIES
QED Mains
Interference
Suppressor
For use when mams interference is causing vour computer
problems Simply plug the equipment into the suppressor
and plug the suppressor into the wall socket (see
specification for maximum power) Inserted m this way. most
forms of mains borne interference will be cured An alternative method of fitting,
whereby the suppressor is connected to the mams circuit of the appliance causing the
interference, may prove to be more effective in some cases
QED Mains Suppressor 3 amp
QED Mains Suppressor 6 amp
1 2 80 Vat
1 7 30 Vat
Memory Chips
Guaranteed quality - thousands already supplied Any faulty chips should be
returned to us within 1 2 months of purchase with proof of purchase for
replacement by return of post
4116 200 nanoseconds Nett 066 Vat 0 10 Total 076
21 14 low power 300 nanoseconds Nett 1 00 Vat 015 Total 1 15
Cassettes
We are probably the largest supplier ot microcomputer cassettes m the
country and have them specially manufactured to our quality specification
• Cl 5 Agfa Tope • Special Labels • Cellophane wrapped •
fVecision transport mechanism • LeadeHess • Insert Cards
• Proven performance
Nett 0 80 Vat 0 12 Total 092
Nett 5 20 Vat 0 78 Total 5 98
Nett 2500 Vat 3 75 Total 28 75
Nett 4500 Vat 6 75 Total 5175
Nett 37000 Vat 55 50 Total 425 50
One cassette
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Fifty cassettes
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Monitors
Visit one of our shops and see our range of low
cost high quality Video Monitors
Disks
Manufactured to our specification by Dennison Kybe. imported by us direct from
the manufacturer to give superior quality at a sensible pnce
• Free library cases with tens • All disks have reinforced centres • Double
density quality - soft sectored • Anti static envelopes, labels and write protect
Mini Floppy SS/DD Nett 2 50 Vat 0 38 Total 2 88
Mini Floppy SS/DDx 10 Nett 2000 Vat 300 Total 23 00
Mini Floppy SS/DD x 50 Nett 87 50 Vat 13 13 Total 10063
Mini Floppy SS/DDx 100 Nett 15000 Vat ; 22 50 Total 172 50
Mini Floppy DS/DD Nett 4 00 Vat 060 Total 4 60
Mini Floppy DS/DD x 1 0 Nett 3300 Vat 4 95 Total 37 95
Mini Floppy DS/DD x 50 Nett 15000 Vat 22 50 Total 172 50
Min. Floppy DS/DD x 1 00 Nett 275 00 Vat 4 1 25 Totol 316 25
Printers
Established quality printers -
at competitive costs
Microline
Microline 80
Nett 27000
Vat
4050
Totol 31050
Microline 82A
Nett 39500
Vat 59 25
Total 454 25
Microline 80 Tractor
Nett 4500
Vat
6 75
Total 5175
Ep ton
MX80 T Newt ype 2
Net* 415 00
Vat 62 25
Total 47725
MX80 FT/1
Nett 39900
Vat 59 85
Total 458 85
MX80 FT Newtype 2
Nett 46500
Vat 69 75
Total 534 75
MX 100
Nett 57500
Vat 86 25
Totol 66125
Smkosha
Seikosha GP80
Nett 19500
Vat 2925
Totol 224 25
Seiko Paper
B’/j" x 1 1 " 2000 Sheets
Nett 12 00
Vat
1 80
Total 13 80
Paper 9'/j" x 11 "2000 Sheets Nett 1200
Vat
1 80
Totol 13 80
Paper Delivery
Nett 300
Vat
045
Total 345
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
• Circle No. 338
231
Mailing
Floppy Disks?
Use Swan Disk Mailers — and get
Safety in the Mail
Now used by over 1,000 computer companies,
Swan Disk Mailers provide outstanding postal
security at economical prices.
Combining great strength with simplicity of use,
Swan Disk Mailers are manufactured from rigid white
corrugated, holding up to four disks.
There are two sizes available: 8-75"X 8-75" & 6"X 6"
• Circle No. 339
We have
the technology to
make your business
more efficient.
Come to a free seminar at
The LONDON MICRO CENTRE and find out
what a micro processor can do for you.
See what our business programs do - and try them
out yourself.
At our seminar, you can ask any question you like
and get an answer you can understand.
Seminars are held every Wednesday and Saturday
from 10.30 am till noon at
The LONDON MICRO CENTRE
47 Lower Belgrave Street
LONDON SW1
Telephone 01-730 8791
Contact us today for further information
Open evenings and weekends.
The LONDON MICRO CENTRE Ltd. - An EMG Company
• Circle No. 340
SUPERBRAIN SOFTWARE
AND HARDWARE +
Languages
CIS COBOL £425
FORMS-2 £100
M-BASIC Interpreter £175
M-BASIC Compiler £195
CBASIC-2 £75
FORTRAN-80 £220
COBOL-80 £345
Communications
TTY — Terminal Emulation/File
Transfer Link to mini
or mainframe (IBM, ICL,
DEC, Prime, etc) £180
Word Processing
WordStar (version 3.0)
Mailmerge (requires W’Star) .
SpellStar (requires W’Star) . .
WordStar Upgrade (to 3.0) . .
Data Management
DMS (Compsoft)
DataStar (input/update)
SuperSort (sort/merge)
Financial Planning
T/Maker (tables/reports)
SuperCalc (Visicalc on CP/M)
Call for latest prices of Superbrain, Diablo, NEC, TEC and Epson equipment.
Payment with order. Please add VAT and £2.00 postage & packing per item.
.£250
. £75
.£125
, £55
.£400
.£195
.£125
.£165
.£185
Inchico Systems, 13 City Rd., Winchester, Hants S023 8SD
Tel. No. Winchester (0962) 51930
232
• Circle No. 341
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
Circle No. 342
£160.00
includes keyboard pod 266
£269.00
TESTED & ASSEMBLED
PCB’S & KITS
■ 6 MONTH GUARANTEE — REPAIR SERVICE
1-8080 S-100 ENCLOSURE SHEET METAL KIT
Just like THE ORIGINAL IMSAI: Mainframe with blue cover, cardguides and
hardware spaced for PS-28D Power Supply, up to 22 slot motherboard
Kit of all metal parts and hardware with documentation Cl 20.00
Thinker Toys Wonder Buss 20 for above w/o conn C8 5 22
S-100 Connectors— each £3.60
8015 Blank jump-start panel w/3 switches £41.00
8035 Jump start panel lor 2 SA-400 £95.00
PS-28D POWER SUPPLY PARTS KIT
Mounts in the 1-8080 enclosure, supplies + 8V <t 28A. + /- 16V u, 3A. kit
includes board, transformer, documentation, and all components. Improved
from original
Kit £180.00
PIO 4-4
4 parallel inputs and outputs (8212) £160.00
SI0 2-2
2 serial I/O ports, good to 9600 baud
VIO-F
Improved memory mapped video I/O board
character EPROM's, firmware, monitor.
Assembled & Tested
DIO/CD
2 board disk controller for 8" or 5’
CPM 2.2
For DIO including documentation
CPA
Improved Imsai style front panel works with Z80. etc..
MPU-A
8080 processor board— requires CPA
MPU-B
8085 3M Hz processor SBC w/serial plus parallel port . monitor
RAM III 64K MEMORY
64K byte dynamic RAM board— Utilizes the Intel 3242 refresh controller and .»
single delay line for totally internal refresh Uses time proven 4116 RAMS
memory mapped I/O boards are allowed to coexist by the use of phantom
Board select via A16 thru A20 extended address lines
Assembled & Tested
IKB-1
Intelligent keyboard uses 8035
MDX
Dual SA400 drive enclosure.
DE 8
Dual 800R/801R horizontal style enclosure w/power supply and fan
VIO-X
New port mapped video I/O board w/8085 processor. 8275 CRT controller
keyboard port, firmware
Assembled & Tested
IEEE 468 + 3P
New IEEE-488 I/O interface with 3 parallel ports.
Assembled & Tested
£299.00
£125.00
£249.00
£129.00
£249.00
£349.00
£189.00
£78.00
£27000
£249.00
£599.00
FULCRUM SYSTEMS
THE COMPLETE
ANSWER
The 8025 Business System gives you:
★ 2.4 Mb Storage
★ 64k RAM
★ 2x8" Disk Drives
★ Choice of Terminal or Monitor
★ CPM 2.2
★ Complete range of
Software offered
★ In House
programming
available
A FULL RANGE OF FULCRUM
SYSTEMS AVAILABLE TO MEET
YOUR NEEDS! all prices plus vat
— “ — 1
FOR FREE PRODUCT
Dll
WVV - BROCHURE AND DETAILS
n**
■VfelAf OF OUR SUPPORT SERVICES
n
& DEALERS
Telex: 995411
aVa
Ll
0621 828763 Export enquiries welcome
u
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
• Circle No. 343
233
miCRDAGE
ELECTROniCS
* Personal Computers * TV Games
* VCR’s* Printers* Monitors* Software
A ATOM’S and DAI’s
^ ALWAYS IN STOCK
Complete range of Atari games.
Open Mon - Sat. 9am till late.
Credit cards welcome.
Send for price list and mail order details.
135 HALE LANE EDGWARE MIDDLESEX HA8 9QP
TEL: 01-959 7119 TELEX 881 3241
Circle No. 344
Connect
your PET
toaPRINTER
from £160 + vat
TheTNW 2000 (as illustrated)
a rugged single ported bi-
directional IEEE 488 RS232
interface:
• Conversion of both PET and
true ASCII.
• Daisy Chaining.
• Standard RS 232.
• Fully addressable.
The TN W 3000 - a bi-ported,
bi-directional IEEE 488/RS232
interface as perTNW 2000
plus:
• Crystal controlled Baud rate.
• Fully implemented RS232.
• Power supply for a current
loop.
Both theTNW 2000 and 3000 are mainly used for interfacing
PET s to printers.
KinGSTan
Kingston Computers Limited. Electricity Buildings, Filey. North Yorkshire
Y014 9PJ. Telephone: (0723) 514141. Telex: 52163
• Circle No. 345
SUPERBRAIN
• 350K — 700K — 1.5MB — 6MB
• Twin ZBOA's with 64K RAM
• 12" screen — 25 x 80 characters per line
HARD DISKS NOW AVAILABLE
3 meg; 6 meg; 12 meg;
Your existing Superbrain can be upgraded, prices
from £3,300.
SUPERCHARGE YOUR SUPERBRAIN
Up to 5 times faster with:
• QD + ROM
More space — more features — more speed
• ZDOS gives extra 4K of memory & 25% faster
screen handling
• true lower descenders for screen
• sleep option on drives.
SOFTWARE FOR YOUR SUPERBRAIN
Languages:
• Basic — Cobol — Fortran
Word Processing:
• WORDSTAR — SPELLBINDER etc
Accounts:
• EASI BUSINESS SYSTEMS — Integrated
accounts — Sales/Purchase/ Nominal Ledgers.
Invoicing — Stock control — payroll.
SPECIAL BUSINESS SYSTEM PRICES
Telephone for details.
fP lel^lded Systems
The Multi-User Family with
the MmmOST Security . . .
► A family of multi-user systems — Z80A — CP/M — Starting from £2,300 - 1
^•floppy — 10 meg. Winchester (floppy back up) — 23 meg. Winchester
cartridge tape back up — up to 16 users per disk system which may be
networked — will run your existing CP/M software, eg. Wordstar, Integrated
Accounts etc. — languages BASIC, COBOL, FORTRAN etc
[cippkz & ITT2020
COMPLETE BUSINESS SYSTEMS
48K Apple system with 2 disk drives, printer and software:
from under C2.000
Sales/Purchase/Nominal Ledgers — Payroll — Stock Control, etc. etc.
ACORN
ATOM
ATOM KIT 8K ROM 2K RAM £120
ASSEMBLED £150
KIT 12K ROM 12K RAM £220
ASSEMBLED £250
IK RAM SETS £5 00
PRINTERS
• Diablo 630 • DRE 1226
• Tec Starwriter • Epson range
• Nec Spinwriter • Oki range
from £350
ex-demo ANACOM £575*
4K FLOATING POINT ROM
(including 12K version)
PRINTER DRIVE
LS 244 BUFFER
COLOUR ENCODER
MAINS PSU
BRISTOL (0272) 428165
ELECTRONIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS
(BRISTOL) LTD.,
91 ASHLEY DOWN ROAD,
BRISTOL BS7 9JT
£20
£9
£2.50
£19
£8
MANCHESTER (092) 576 5082
AID LTD,
UNrr 3, LODGE DRIVE,
CULCHETH, NR WARRINGTON.
ALL PRICES EXCLUDE VAT AT 15% & DELIVERY
DAY 1 on-site maintenance contracts available
FULL SOFTWARE SUPPORT & TRAINING
234
• Circle No. 346
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
This memory is made for your AtOffl Books and bits for ZX. Atom
OR OTHER 1MHz 6502/6800/6809 SYSTEM
MZ163B + colour
encoder mounted in ATOM
16 or 32K BYTE VERSIONS
Expand your ATOM to 28 or 38K RAM
Ideal for Word Processing, Chess programs and Business Software.
Fully Compatible with other Acorn ATOM software and hardware
Versions available to fit inside the ATOM while still leaving room
for other extensions such as the Acorn ATOM colour encoder board.
Eurocard rack mounting types also available
PRICES: INCLUDING U.K. P&P &15% VAT
MZ163A 16K Built & tested to fit inside ATOM'S case £59.50
MZ163B 32K „ £74.00
MZ163C 16K Built & tested. Eurocard rack mounting £62.00
MZ163D 32 K „ „ „ „ £76.50
MZ163E Bare PCB to build any of above with data £23.00
MP100 DC/DC converter; powers any MZ163 board from
unregulated 8V supply such as the ATOM mains adaptor £8.50
S.A.E. for further details.
VISA
\Ne uvk'imv
ALL PRICES INCLUDE U.K. P&P
+ 15% VAT WHERE APPLICABLE.
PAYMENT WITH ORDER PLEASE.
TIMEDATA LTD 57 Swallowdale, Basildon,
Essex. SS165JG Tel; (0268) 41 1 125 v •; rm»
The Explorer’s Guide to the ZX81
IF YOU'VE GOT A ZX81 THEN YOU NEED THIS BOOK !
Programs for IK RAM, and programs for 16K RAM.
Games, Business and Engineering Applications. \
RAM & 1/0 Circuits. Useful ROM Routines. Hints
and Tips. And Much Much More, for only £4.95
The ZX80 Magic Book
♦With 8K ROM/ZX81 Supplement*
Games programs, computer music, converting programs
written in other BASICS, improving the picture
RAM & 1/0 circuits, and much more £4.75
Getting Acquainted with your ZX81
75 + programs including Draughts; by Tim Hartnell £4.95
Mastering Machine Code on your
ZX80/80
180 pages of immense value to beginner and expert alike. £5 .95
The Atom Magic Book
A wealth of games and other programs: storing speech in your ATOM,
converting programs written in other BASICS tape recoding hints,
and many more useful hardware tips. £5.50
Getting Acquainted with your
Acorn Atom
By Tim Hartnell and Trevor Sharpies. 80 programs including
Draughts! £7.95
ZX & Atom IC’s & Connectors
S.a.e. for list.
julilEDAiA.
• Circle No. 347
This month we feature a video camera interface for a microcomputer, allowing a television
set to present a picture to a computer, which can then store and display it.
Text and graphic material are to be broadcast by the Open University as part of their radiotext
project. Since the broadcasts will be outside normal hours the material must be recorded. The
system we describe will allow an ordinary cassette recorder to accept the material for
display on a TV set or for print-out. Also in our February issue, the professional approach to
re-transmitting TV pictures to locations where ordinary broadcast transmitters can t reach.
wireless
February issue out now. 7 Op.
world
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
235
DISC DRIVES <AT
UNBELIEVABLY LOW
PRICES
SIEMENS FDD1 00-8 250/500 KBytes. 8" Single Sided.
Single or double density £263.16
TANDON THINLINEtm TM848-2 500/1000 KBytes. 8"
Double Sided, Single or double density, half thickness
of standard drive, only 2.3", D.C. power only required
24VDC 4- 5VDC at 1.5 Amp £449.00
TANDON MINI WINCHESTER TM600 5 MBytes
FOR SUPER BRAIN
TM600 4 controller f power supply, in case, wired
and complete with 3. 1 DOS £1 695.00
FOR SI 00
TM600 + controller -f cables + CP/M 2.21. £1595.00
SOFTWARE:
From MicroPro From Graham Dorian Software
E e
WORDSTAR 270.00 Nominal Ledger 495.00
MAILMERGE 85.00 Sales Ledger 495.00
SPELLSTAR 135.00 Purchase Ledger 495.00
SUPERSORT 145.00 Stock Control 495.00
DATASTAR 195.00 Order Entry/lnv. 495.00
CALCSTAR 175.00 (new) Job Costing 495.00
From Microsoft The above include Source
Basic 80 175.00 Code in CBASIC 2
Basic Compiler 185.00
EXTRA DISCOUNT
An extra discount of 5% may be deducted from the above prices if
cash/cheque is sent with order. All the above prices exclude VAT at
1 5 %
IRVINE BUSINESS SYSTEMS LTD
PO BOX 5, 10 NORTH VENNEL
BOURTREEHILL, IRVINE, AYRSHIRE KA11 1NE
TEL: 0294 218888
• Circle No. 348
CAN YOUR
COMPUTER
READ THIS?
Light-pen and signal conditioning unit enable your computer to read all
types of bar code. Typical applications include data collection, ticket
identification systems, security checkpoint verification, stock control,
identifying assemblies in service, repair or manufacturing environ-
ments, programming computers and intelligent instruments, matching
of patient and transfusion blood, retail product price information at
checkouts etc. Various interface options available for all computers.
Hardware from £125 4* VAT Further details on request
★ ★★★★Freelance assembler programmers needed to provide
customer backup for the above product. Phone during office hours.
Professional quality light pens for use with VDUs, graphics
terminals etc. Stainless steel construction, glass lens
optics, built in buffer amp and touch sense switch.
£50 4 VAT Data sheet available
FAST DATA' light pen system (complete hard-
ware/software package) for Commodore
PETs. This is a quality product designed for
serious use. Typical applications include
Computer Aided Design (CAD), wordproces-
sing, data selection etc. When the pen is
pointed at the screen its high resolution coor-
dinates are automatically returned as BASIC
variables. Compatible with Supersoft & MTU hi-
res boards.
Complete system £149
ture available.
♦ VAT . . . Full litera-
A TlK ( pc ) 1 Green Lane
■ l-l i Walton-on-Thames, Surrey
Phone (093 22) 44110 — 24 hours
Access . . . Visa . . . Callers by appointment
• Circle No. 349
Small businesses
come in all sizes.
So do SD Systems!
The long and short of it is that no two small
businesses are the same size. A fact that many small
business systems seem to forget.
SD Systems appreciate the much varied require-
ments of 'small business' and have produced a series of
microcomputers that totally adapt to your particular
needs. And to help your business grow, each system
will upgrade, simply and economically, as you demand
more of it.
SD200 2 Mb floppy disk storage
SD605/610 5/10 Mb Winchester storage
SD700 32/96 Mb hard disk storage
All systems can be single or multi-user (1-5), require
no special operating skills and are capable of running
two printers at the same time.
We deliver. FAST.
Our own engineers will install free-of-charge. And
unlike most systems, we offer a full twelve month
warranty.
Programs for a better business.
A wide range of tried and tested business programs
are available.
Including:-
★ DMS ★ General Accounting ★ Payroll ★ Word
Processing ★ Stock Control ★ Client Billing ★ The
Circle Package for Practising Accountants ★
To find out which system is best suited to your
business, clip this coupon to your company letterhead
and return it to us. No stamp required. Dealer
enquiries welcome.
See us on
STAND 734
/The \
WHICH COMPUTER?
n «m
It's the painless way to grow
SDSystems
J9 22 January^
- 1 9H 2
ALL SYSTEMS ARE GO FOR SMALL BUSINESS.
# CIRCLE COMPUTER ^
BUSINESS SYSTEMS
Freepost, 6 Manor Way, Old Woking, Surrey.
Telephone: Woking (04862) 21012
Name
Position
L_“
• Circle No.
-J
350
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
236
monitors
ACORN
B.B.C.
MICRO-COMPUTER
NOW ON
DEMONSTRATION,
PLEASE SEND S.A.E.
FOR CATALOGUE
AND LATEST
PRICE LIST.
COLOUR TV’S by
FERGUSON. J V C..
MITSUBISHI.
PANASONIC. \
TOSHIBA.
PANASONIC TC492
Colour TV 14" £199.00
MITSUBISHI B/W 12' TV
£54.90
MONITORS *58
9" O.P.C. GREEN £95 0^
9'APFB/W £85.00
9” HITACHI B/W £112.17
12 " BMC £159.00
12" NEC GREEN £159.00
12" NEC COLOUR £579.00
14" DECCA COLOUR RGB £250 00
14" JVC COLOUR MONITOR £330.00
(Please add VAT to prices above)
SPECIAL OFFER 12" B/W TV, push button
" tuning, Ideal for use with computers, or as
2nd TV. Only £49.90 Inc. VAT. .
SHARP COMPUTERS
PC 1121 Pocket Computer £69.50
MZ80K (48K) Computer ) Phone for
MZ80B (64K) Computer j cheapest price
P3 Dot Matrix Printer £379.00
P5 Dot Matrix Printer £415.00
MZ80 I/O Interface Unit £95.00
(please add VAT to prices above)
APPLE II COMPUTER
Apple II (48K) Computer
Disk Drive with Controller
Disk Drive without Controller . . .
Vlasak Meaastor IMB Disk Dr £
Hard Disk Systems . . . Phone fi
Silentype Thermal Printer
(please add VAT to prices above)
'All items listed are available tnrough our fast efficient mail order service. If you find our prices
are not competitive then we will be pleased to match any genuine offer in this magazine. I
P & P Rates: a 0.75, b 1.00, c 1.50. d 2.50
Full range of Sinclair ZX-80, ZX-81 books and software now in stock.
ArnnN Imon 23.10 a
MVsUnni „„ Sargon II chess 25.00 a
Floating Point Rom j>0.00 a Startrek 9 50 a
Memwy Chips ea 1 95 a z chess 3 14.50 a
Magic Book 5 50 c Adventure Sampler 6.50 a
PmHer Dnve 9 00 a Adventure 1 to 9 875 a
Printer Butler 2 50 a Hanibal | ,3 50 a
vol7.:::: ::: :: :::::: :1 om a a 875 .
Maths Pack 10.00 a cuaqd
Games Packs 1 to 7 10.00 a SHAHr
Word Pack Rom 26.00 a CE 121 Cassette Interface ....10.95 b
APPLE CE 122 Print0r Interface 52.00 b
(Please ring for software not listed) Editor Assembler •••••■ t
' , , 4 ^ Machine Language Pack 17.78 b
Visicalc (new 16 sector) 1 04.00 b Pascal Interpreter (MZ80K) . 50.00 b
Vi s, p/ e t . 97.00 b Speed Basic 10 00 a
Visitrend/Visiplot 139.00 b 4 00 a
Visidex ..., P 109.00 b %£SSi 400 a
Desk Top Plan 65.00 b Fox A Geese 4 00 a
Micro Modeller 425.00 b. £ J 5 OO a
{£“ 'll™ g EK&J£r. ::::::::::::: :SS S
Mag'cWindnw 79 00 b ^TcSun, ! . '. '. ! '. 500 a
BOOKS Posiedon 5.00 a
(Send SAE for full list) Address Book 4.00 a
Acorn Magic 5.50 c Anagrams 3.00 a
Microsoft Basic 8.95 c Dust Cover 5.00 a
Basic Basic 8.25 c P3 Printer Dust Cover 5 00 *
Learning Level II 11.00 c Picture Count 5.00 a
Basic Handbook 11.00 c Count & Add 5.00 a
Introduction to Pascal 8 75 c Match the Word 5.00 a
Programming in Pascal 6 95 c Character Match 5.00 a
CP/M Handbook 8 95 c Head On 6.00 a
Programming & Interfacing We no have the full range of Nowbear
65 02 8 95 c software in stock, send SAE for details.
Programming the 65 02 9.10 c SUPERIOR SYSTEMS SOFTWARE
Basic Computer Games 5.50 c SHARP
Basic A Unit for Games Pack 1
Secondary Schools 4.45 c (5 games on Cassette) 10.00 a
More Basic Computer Games 6.25 c Pack 2
Making Most of 2X80 6.95 c (5 games on Cassette) 10.00 a
Machine Language CALCUBET — Complete Bookmaker
from ground up 9.00 c Calculation programme.
Getting Acquainted with various versions available,
your VIC 20 ....... 5.95 c Phone for details.
Getting Acquainted with V | DE0 CLUB RETAILERS PACKAGE
Joe ° r Using the Sharp MZ-80 range of com-
7v?J lil r p u,ors - contro1 y°4 r vide ? I,b !? ry -
ZAoi rocxei dook c Features include: stock control, member-
MEMORY CHIPS ship lists, overdue film list etc. Suitable for
4116 fAnole SharDl ea 1.50 a rental and sale of video films.
21 14 (Knj . '. . . . '. . ea 1 .95 a DEALER ENQUIRIES WELCOME
4027 r 2 K Sharp) ea 0.50 a MAKE YOURSELF A
VIDEO GENIE fortune!
Sound Mod 7.50 a CALCUSHARE Stock Market
Colour Mod 39.46 b program. Keeps control of up
Synthesiser 45.00 b to 50 shares. Traditional buy
EG3013/BS232 215.00 d & sell indicators £50.00
Lower Case 35.00 b APPLE
Dust Cover 5.55 a Games Pack 1
invaders 13 00 a (Disc 5 games) 12.50 a
Biorhythm 7.50 a Games Pack 2
Battle Of Britain 13.50 a (Disc 5 games) 12.50 a
Pinball ]3.00 a VIDEO GENIE
Poo fs 13 50 a. Games Pack
Please add P & P and then VAT at 15%^ (5 games on Cassette) 10.00 a
^ (Zero VAT on Books) M Education Pack 1
aammk (3-6 year old on Cassette) ..10.00 a
Peripherals '
PRINTERS 1^5
SEIKOSHA GP80 C195.00 U
EPSON MX80F/T £399.00 ■
MICROLINE 80 £299.00 ■
MICROLINE 83A £650 00 ES
CENTRONICS 737 T395.00
SHARP MZ80P3 £379.00 ■
SHARP MZ80P5 £415.00 ■
EPSON MX 100 £575.00
EPSON MX130 P.OT
EPSON MX80F/T2 £480.00
DISK DRIVES
SHARP DUAL DRIVE £555.0C
VIDEO GENIE SINGLE DRIVE £220.0C
ACORN ATOM
DISK DRIVE PACK : . .£229.00
INTERFACE UNITS
A WIDE RANGE OF INTERFACES ARE
AVAILABLE EX-STOCK
WESTRA COMPUTER STATION
DESKS IN STOCK
(Please add VAT to prices above)
We also carry a wide selection of Video Equipment,
please phono for details.
VIDEO GENIE
MK I with Sound and Lower
Case £295.00
MK II Business Computer ( 1 6K)
£310.00
Expansion Unit with 16K Ram
£215.00
Single Disk Drive . . £215.00
New 16K Expander with disk
controller £199.00
(please add VAT to prices above)
1 78, WEST STREET, SHEFFIELD SI 4ET TEL: 0742 755005
IVLSO AT: QUADRAPHENI A, 1 9 BRADFORD ROW, (HALLG ATE) DONCASTEF
. DN1 3NF TEL: 0302 21215 t raai^iM
4 * • Business Hours: Sheffield Mon-Sat 9am-5.1 5pm Doncaster Mon-Sat 1 0am-5.00pm __ 4
5MB WINCHESTER
FOR APPLE 1 1
• LOWEST COST/MBYTE FROM ANY SUPPLIER
• SINGLE APPLE CONTROLLER
• PASCAL COMPATIBLE "DROP IN" BIOS
• LICENSABLE "PROTECTED SOFTWARE" OPERATING SYSTEM
(only available to bona-fide software suppliers)
• DEDICATED APPLE II
• FAST DELIVERY
SUBSYSTEM DOES NOT INCLUDE APPLE DRIVE
syMBfile
LOWEST UK PRICES
[appkz'computer
w Sales and Service
R.R.R £1450
TO PLACE YOUR ORDER, OR TO MAKE
FURTHER ENQUIRIES, CONTACT:-
symbiotic
computer systems
85/87 STATION ROAD, WEST CROYDON,
SURREY CRO 2RD
01-6808606
APPLE SOFTWARE
A.C.E. — A program line editor with macro facilities. £19.95 A48K
Alien Rain (Galaxian) — Colour 4 hi-res version of pub game £13.95 M48K
Alien Typhoon — A much more difficult version of Alien Rain. £13.95 M48K
Akalabeth — An advanced fantasy role playing game. £22.95 M48K
Apple-Doc — Cross reference utility + Variable replacement. £22.95 A48K
Apple Panic — Chase little apples up and down ladders £16.95 M48K
AppleWorld — Allows you to produce 3-D animated graphics. £38.95 M48K
Ascii Express II — A complete intelligent terminal package. £42.95 A48K
Asteron — The ultimate Asteroids replica game £19.95 M48K
Beneath Apple DOS — The definitive guide to the Apple DOS £1 1.95 Book
Both Barrels — 2 hi-res action games on one disk £12.95 A48K
Castle Wolfenstein — An action adventure game in hi-res graphics with sound.
£18.95 M48K
Copts & Robbers - An adventure game in the tombs of ancient Egypt. £19.95 M48K
CPS Multifunction Card — Serial. Parallel and Clock on one card. £183.95 Card
Cranston Manor — A new hi-res adventure like Wizard & The Princess. £19.95 M48K
Cross-Ref — Cross reference Applesoft programmers utility.
Cyber Stnke — 3-D hi-res action arcade game in space.
D/DATABASE — Ultra-fast, user friendly database using DDA.
DDA FILES CONTROLLER — Sort, copy & restructure DDA files.
DDA PROGRAMMERS UTILITIES — Direct Disk Access for
Dogfight — Hi-res jet combat game for 1 or 2 players.
Epoch — Hi-res action game fighting the aliens. Our favourite.
£14.95 A32K
£19.95 M48K
£39.95 A48K
£39.95 A48K
programmers.
£199.95 A48K
£18.95 M32K
£19.95 M48K
E-Z Draw 3.3 — This is the poor man's graphics tablet. Very easy to use. £28.95 M48K
EXPEDITER II — THE APPLESOFT COMPILER AT A LOW. LOW PRICE.
£56.95 A48K
Falcons — The best Invaders style game available for the Apple. £18.95 M48K
Fender Bender — Super car game in hi-res colour graphics. £14.95 M48K
Galaxy Wars — Colour graphics 4 Sound effects + Hi-res arcade game. £13.95 M32K
Galactic Attack — A hi-res Star Trek type game. £19.95 M48K
Gamma Goblins — Yet another superb hi-res action game. £16.95 M48K
Genetic Drift — A departure from the normal arcade style game. £16.95 M48K
Higher Graphics — Hi-res picture drawing utility. £23.95 M48K
Hi-Res Cribbage — The title describes it. Even hear the pegs move. £14.95 M48K
Hi-Res Soccer — English football for 1 or 2 players in hi-res. £16.95 M48K
Jawbreaker (Gobbler) — Eat up the dots but watch out for the Gobblers. £16.95 M48K
KRAM — Fast and powerful Keyed Random Access Method for quick disk access.
£58.95 M32K
Linker — A linking loader/editor for assembly software development. £28.95 M32K
LISA — The assembly language development system for professionals. £45.95 M48K
List Master — An excellent companion product to Apple-Doc. £22.95 M48K
Memory Management System — Enables you to put DOS on a RAM card.
£29.95 M64K
Microsoft 16K Ram Expansion Card. £114.95 Card
Missile Defense — Hi-res animation and sound arcade game. £16.95 M48K
Mission: Asteroid — Hi-res adventure in 21 colours. Save the World!! £10.95 M32K
MultiBoot Upgrade — Upgrade 3.2 disks to boot under 3.2 or 3.3. £23.95 M48K
Mystery House — Hi-res adventure using over 100 pictures. £12.95 M48K
Norad — A hi-res simulation of an I.C.B.M attack. £19.95 M48K
Olympic Decathlon — Long jump, high jump, hurdles plus much more. £17.95 M48K
Online — A new concept in dial-up software for the Apple II £59.95 A48K
Orbitron — Fight off enemy forces and avoid meteor showers. £14.95 M48K
Pascal Graphics Editor — The professional graphics editing package in Pascal. P.O.A.
Pegasus II — The latest in pub games now available for the Apple. £16.95 M48K
Phantoms Five — A fighter-bomber mission simulation in real time 3-D graphics.
£18.95 M48K
£19.95 M48K
£14.95 M48K
£15.95 M48K
£13.95 M48K
£15.95 M48K
£19.95 M48K
£16.95 M48K
£13.95 M48K
£16.95 M48K
£14.95 M48K
£16.95 M48K
£13.95 M48K
£19.95 M48K
£18.95 M48K
£23.95 M48K
£99.95 M32K
ON
£73.95 M48K
£14.95 A48K
£129.95 A48K
£21.95 A48K
£18.95 M48K
£16.95 M48K
Pool 1.5 — Hi-res colour graphics pool table simulation. 4 games.
Pulsar 11 — 2 superb hi-res games on one disk.
Raster Blaster — A very realistic full-colour pinball simulation.
Sabotage — Shoot down helicopters and bombers in hi-res.
Shooting Gallery — A shooting gallery simulation in hi-res.
Shuffleboard — Real time hi-res simulation by the authors of Pool 1 .5.
Sneakers — Waves of little creatures attack you in hi-res.
Snoggle (Puckman) — Hi-res maze of ghosts. Great fun.
Softporn Adventure — An adventure for adults only.
Space Eggs — Hi-res super-fast arcade style game.
Space Quarks — Shoot down the quarks before they get you.
Space Warrior — Protect your shields from the dreaded drone ram ships
Star Avenger — A fast paced game of guerilla warfare in space.
Star Cruiser — Save yourself from the swooping aliens.
SuperGraphics — A 3-D game development system in colour.
SuperKRAM — As KRAM but with multi-key and multi-index. £
SUPERSCRIBE - WORD PROCESSOR. TRUE UPPER/LOWER CASE
SCREEN.
Tarturian (Wizard) — Another hi-res adventure with 160 rooms.
TASC — An optimising Applesoft compiler from Microsoft.
The Prisoner — A game based on the famous T.V. series.
The Wizard and the Princess — Hi-res adventure in 21 colours.
Threshold — Yet another fast action arcade style game.
Time Zone — The largest adventure ever implemented. Hi-res colour graphics
P.O.A. M48K
Ulysses & the Golden Fleece — Another superb hi-res adventure. £19.95 M48K
VisiCalc 3.3 — The 16 sector version with enhanced manual. £119.95 M48K
Visidex — Store and retrieve information by key words. £119.95 M48K
Visible — A database from the same stable as VisiCalc. £149.95 M48K
Visiplot — A hi-res graphics graph plotting package. £94.95 M48K
Visiterm — Use your Apple as an on-line terminal. £89.95 M48K
Visitrend — Performs maths operations on time series data. £149.95 M48K
Wizardry — 3-D adventure. The best we have yet seen. £28.95 M48K
Z-Term — A full feature terminal package for the CP/M Apple. £65.95 M48K
A: Requires Applesoft in ROM.
M: Will run on any Apple.
Please specify which DOS you require when ordering. If you don’t see what you are
looking for please give us a call. WE ALSO OFFER A BESPOKE SOFTWARE
SERVICE WHICH IS SECOND-TO-NONE.
PRICES INCLUDE VAT AT 15% Add 50p P + P for orders under £30 totally.
Please write or telephone for your free copy of our up-to-date software list.
Dealers inquiries invited. PERSONAL CALLERS BY APPOINTMENT ONLY PLEASE.
SPIDER SOFTWARE
98 AVONDALE ROAD,
SOUTH CROYDON,
SURREY.
Tel: 01-680 0267 (24 hours a day — 7 days a week)
238
• Circle No. 352
• Circle No. 353
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
FOR THE 16K OR ABOVE
ZX81 PET
TRS 80 LEVEL II
AND VIDEO GENIE
RUBIK CUBE SOLVER (16K)
Rubik’s cube completely solved from any starting position.
RUBIK CUBE SIMULATOR (8K)
Also available for the 8K new monitor UK101, this easy to use
program simulates all the possible movements of the cube. By
storing all your moves and even allowing you to run backwards to a
previous position, the simulator makes the formulation of your own
solution possible.
OFFER EXTENDED UNTIL FEBRUARY 28
Rubic Cube solver + instruction booklet £6.00 £4.50
Rubic Cube simulator + instruction booklet £5.00 £4.00
SPECIAL OFFER!
The Solver + Simulator + Booklet £7.00 £5.50
MANY MORE PROGRAMS AVAILABLE
If you own a ZX81 with 1 6K, TRS 80 Level II, Video Genie, PET or
UK101, send 95p for full catalogue and free listing. This will be
returned against first order. (Please state machine.)
All the above prices include p&p and VAT.
Available from:
Oasis Software,
Lower North Street,
Cheddar, Somerset.
SnrTUHRE
Circle No. 354
6809 is HERE!
HARDWARE
SWPTC and APPLE Distributors.
77-68:
A single board 6800 or 6809 system, that
can be expanded into a full business
system Sold as bare printed circuit
boards, with constructional notes
SOFTWARE
FLEX 9 for 6809 Systems, 5 V* or 8 inch
Disks.
SORT/MERGE PACKAGE
DEBUG PACKAGE
UTILITIES
TEXT PROCESSOR
BASIC
EXTENDED BASIC
XBASIC PRECOMPILER
FLEX DIAGNOSTICS
GENERALFLEX.incI
EDITORand ASSEMBLER
CASSETTE SOFTWARE for 6800.
SWTPC4K BASIC
SWPTC 8K BASIC
TSC TEXT EDITOR
TSC ASSEMBLER
TSC TEXT PROCESSOR
TSC RE LOCATOR
BUSINESS SOFTWARE
‘Visicalc' for the APPLE II. Price £125.00.
TABULA RASA; for ‘6809: Price £139.00
Call or send for detailed information sheet
and pricelist Design Notes £1 00 each
• Come In and try out any of these systems, or use our Mall Order service.
• All prices correct at time of going to press and Include VAT at the current rate.
• Send for our latest catalogue and p
• Store Opening Hours, Monday to 5
• The T~ r ~ 1 ' J
•6800'
CPU
12.00
MON 1
Soft Monitor
12.00
MON 2
ROM Monitor
12.00
'6809'
CPU
12.00
CASSETTE
High Speed
Interface
6.00
4K RAM
Static Memory
12.00
DYNARAM
32K Dynamic
Memory
12.00
VDU
Memory Mapped
Screen
12.00
PIO
Parallel Interface
12.00
ROMA
8K-16K EPROM
Memory
12.00
PROM PROG
EPROM
Programmer
12.00
DISC CTRL
Disc Controller
12.00
69.00
69.00
55.00
69.00
62.00
90.00
48.00
62.00
120.00
15.00
20.00
25.00
25.00
30.00
20.00
9' Hardware and Software Specialist Store.
w/etome, vi uouuui mail V/lllUI OOlVlLO.
topress and Include VAT at the cumenl
I price list. Access and Visa accepted.
Saturday, 9.30 to 5.30.
Fffl
241 Baker Street, London NW1 6XE. Telephone: 01-486 7671.
e Circle No. 355
:: , •
Get the very best in computer
o
^ mm ^ ua 1 V #SII5j| Verbatim Datalife disks are
supplies iromwBiB
a \ fi ill rannp rinhf fhrmi inh
E Verbatim Datalife disks are
tested far beyond industry's
standards. We offer the
full range right through
\V \ to CE alignment disks
-t** 0 ** \ and can supply most
f \ types from stock. We
. .. ....... \ also carry a very wide
\ choice of computer
£:• • \ supplies. Verbatim
\ quality with our
J ' ~ A delivery and back
up service is
rX A unbeatable!
Name
Longer lasting 1 00% error free Advanced polishing Improved liner
lubricant. specification. technique. removes debris
Send for catalogue.
Willis Computer Supplies Limited,
Wfi*?/ FREEPOST. P.O Box 10, Southmill Road, Bishop’s
€*&/ Stortford, Herts, CM23 1BR or Tel Bishop's
Stortford (0279) 50649 1 Telex:81 7425.
Company.
Address
WILLIS
Computer Supplies
for people who know better
n ^ PC 2/82 |
• Circle No. 356
239
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
ADDS
VIEWPOINT
the display terminal
you can
afford
Comfortably
New to the UK market - Viewpoint,
a display terminal of uncompromising
quality. But with simplicity built-in too.
So the price comes down...
drastically.
The fact is, you could
acquire three Viewpoints
for the price of two
terminals from another
manufacturer.
No compromise on
features either:
Full size screen... smaller space-saving cabinet.
Crisp character legibility on dark or light
background; plus blinking, underlining, cursor
addressing, etc.
Efficient keyboard layout plus separate 14 key
cluster for cursor control keys/numerals.
Six international character sets built-in
...UK, Belgian, German, Swedish, Spanish,
American, plus appropriate key caps.
Screen tilt on both models, A&B. Additionally,
model B incorporates glare-reducing filter.
VIEWPOINT Is available from stock
through our appointed dealers. In case of
difficulty contact:
* Viewpoint features a detached keyboard connected to the
CRT display by a stretch cord So the operator can adjust
keyboard position to stay comfortable. . . and efficient
GREEN & AMBER
SCREEN
EXCLUSIVE
New to the UK... these
optional extras set new
standards for clarity
and easiness on the
operator's eye.
DEALERS:
low cost terminal
means outstanding new
market opportunities
Contact Sigma (UK)
for additional product
information, volume
discounts, sales
promotion aids.
Sigma(UK) 4 Cromwell Road Burgess Hill West Sussex Tel. (04446) 47676
240
• Circle No. 357
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
COMPLETE SYSTEM
FOR
£1,190
* 48K Apple 1 1 plus
* Disc Drive W/Controller
* Visicalc or
Magic Window
* Video Monitor
* Plus 12 Months
Warranty
AUTHORISED APPLE SALES
AND LEVEL 1 SERVICE CENTRE
MZ-80K, 20K £399
PC 1211 Computer . £75
CE 121 Interface . . £13
CE 122 Printer £69
• Programs in BASIC • 01. 9K
Random Access Memory
• “QWERTY" Alphabetic
keyboard • Long Battery Life
Verbatim FLOPPY DISCS
5V4’' SS s/density
£1.99 LOW
REDUCE Error LOW
Rate Use PRICES
Cleaning Kit £16.95
ATARI
Atari 400 with 8K RAM — £225
Atari 400 with 1 6K R AM — £295
Atari 800 with 1 6K R AM — £625
Adventures: Allen Rain — Asteroid — Galaxian — Mystery
House — Snoggle All at £9.95
Tarturian — Creature Venture — Apple Panic — Star Mines — Draw
Poker — All at £14.95
Soft-Porn Adventure — The Wizard & The Princess — Space Eggs —
Trilogy of Games — Missile Defence. All at £17.95
Hi-Res Soccer — Wrap Factor — Three Mile Island at £20.95
VACANCY: Young Sales
Engineer required.
Add 15% VAT
Delivery is paid at cost.
DEANS Kensington
191, KENSINGTON HIGH STREET, LONDON W.8.
Tel. 01-937 7896 Ext 3.
• Circle No. 359
APPLE Hardware
APPLE 48K
625.00
APPLE 64 K
710.00
Disk Drive with CTRL
340.00
Disk Drive w/o CTRL
255.00
Graphics Tablet
405.00
APPLETEL
560.00
APPLE II P.O.A.
Interface Cards
CCS RS232
95.00
CCS Parallel
79.00
CCS Centronics
79.00
CCS IEEE
155.00
Aristocard RS232
69.00
Aristocard Parallel
65.00
80 Column Card
175.00
Z-80 Softcard
175.00
16K RAM Card
75.00
Sup-R-Terminal
190.00
Eurocolor Card
95.00
CPS Multifunction
135.00
Software and Consumables
VISICALC 3.3
98.00
VISITERM
78.00
DESK TOP PLAN II
98.00
VISIDEX
98.00
VISIPLOT
89.00
DB MASTER
105.00
WORDSTAR ver 3.0
135.00
MAILMERGE
59.00
5" Floppy Disks for 10
17.50
Paper 11" x 9.5" (2000)
12.00
Printers
Olympia KSR ESW 100
925.00
Epson MX 100
560.00
Epson MX80 F/T
389.00
Epson MX82
379.00
Anadex 9500
895.00
Anadex 9501
985.00
Centronics 737
375.00
445 Paper Tiger
469.00
Video Monitors
12” Green Monitor
165.00
PORTATEL 14" Colour
310.00
SYSTEMATICS
Integrated Accounting Package
Sales Ledger
250.00
Purchase Ledger
250.00
General Ledger
250.00
Stock Control
250.00
Invoicing
250.00
Payroll
250.00
Postage and Packing on APPLE & Printers £5.00
Other Goods £1.00
ALL PRICES ARE EXCLUSIVE OF VAT
GRANATA COMPUTER SYSTEMS
CENTURY HOUSE. HAVELOCK ROAD,
SOUTHALL, MIDDLESEX.
TEL: 01-843 1971.
• Circle No. 360
Advertisement Index
A
ACE
ACT
A J Harding (Molimex)
Almarc
Alphin
Altek
Anglia
Apple Orchard
Apple UK
Atlanta
Avery
Avon
B
BHRA
Biodata
Blyth
British Nat. Radio School
Bromley Computer Store
Business Computer Centre
Buss Stop
Butel
C
Calco
Caisto
Cambridge Computer Store
Cambridge Micro Computers
Camden
Carlton
Centronics
Chromasonic
CICC
CIEL
Circle Business Systems
City Microsystems
Clenlo
Comart
Commodore
Compshop
Compsoft
Compusense
Computace
Computech
Computer Fair
Computer Interface Designs
Computer Plus
Computerfacts
Computers For All
Computer Supermarket
Control Universal
Core
Cosser
Croeso
Crofton
189
90. 91. 176
146
23
180
236
202. 203
123
59
226
220
180
151
18
145
228
227
37
233
34. 152. 208
214
190
214
208
212
226
213
229
144
205
236
148
219
5. 122
108
183
27
180
223
19
178. 179
184
194
138
24
38
216
192
30
30
63. 212
Cronite
Crystal
CTEC
Cumana
CWP
D
3 D’ Digital Design
Data Application
Datalect
David Richards
Da Vinci
DDP
Deans
Digico
Digital Devices
Digitek
Digitus
Discom
Disking
E
East Fern
Electronic Information
EMG
Equinox
F
Fulcrum
G
GP Industrial
Gate
Graffcom
Graham Dorian
Gram
Grama (Winter)
Granata
Greenwich Instruments
H
Hal
Henry's Radio
Hi Tech
Hotel Microsystems
IBR
Icarus
Inchico
Index Check
Informox Centralex
Infra
Interam
10 Systems
Irvine
Ithaca
J
J M Pickard
JBA
200
212
74
29. 191
21
31
131
35. 226
110
18
210
241
194
32
105
40
182
181
39
234
124. 192. 232
102
233
17
89
25
224
18
8. 9
241
218
73
22
193
92
130
4. 33. 217, 221
232
210
204
195
216
236
Outside back cover
221
216
KGB
44
Kingston
234
Knights TV
20
Kontron
139
Kram
228
Kuma
190
L
L & J Computers
182
Laskys
Level Ltd
64. 231
230
Lifeboat
187
Lintex
228
Little Genius
220
London Computer Centre
209. 222
Lowe
113
LP Enterprises
10. 11
LSI
106, 107, 142
Lucas Logic
198. 199
M
Maplin
196
Melbourne House
226
Memotech
150
Merton
180
Metrotech
14. 15
Micro 8
242
Micro 80
16
Micro Business Centre
201
Microage
234
Microcentre Inside Front Cover
Micro Computer Applications
37
Microfacilities
175
Microgeneral
204
Micropute
114. 132
Microsolution
225
Microsource
227
Microstyle
197
Microsystems '82
36
Microtechnology
184
Microware
39
Millbank Computers
12, 13
N
Nelson
192
Newton Labs
7
Northamber
206. 207
O
Oasis
239
Oxford Computers
51
P
Pearcom
84
Pete & Pam
104
Prentice Hall
134
Prospero
200
Rade
52
Rair
140
Ranmor
184
Research Machines
188
Riva
185
S
SBD
64. 230
SDM
34
SEC
137
Sharp
69. 116
Sigma
240
Silica Shop
26
Sinclair Research 97, 98. 99. 100, 115
Sintrom
189
Sirton
6
Spider Software
238
STCS
194
Stirling
239
Stotron
208
Sun Computers
123
Superior Systems
214, 237
Swan
232
Swanley
184
Symbiotics
238
Systems International
204
SystemSoft
227
T
Tabs
129
Technomatic
215
Telefusion
16
Telesystems
220
Teletone
83
Tempus
221
Teredec Inside back cover
Timedata
235
Transam
28
Transdata
42
Twickenham Computer Store
186
V
Videotex
222
Visconti (Essential Software)
118, 186
Vision Business Systems
60
Vlasak
121
W
Watford
211
Wida
230
Willis
239
Wireless World
235
X
Xerox Store
48
Y
Your Computer 224
PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1982
241
Best possible quality + best possible price = EPSON + MICRO PERIPHERALS
for the best of both worlds.
The above machines have many more features including interfaces for Apple, PET (with PET Graphics), TRS80,
Sharp, NEC, Hitachi, Nacom, Acorn, Super Brain, Video Genie, BBC Micro etc, some have correspondence quality printing
and multiple character sets including international languages. Ring Ian today for full details and specifications
and printout samples. AH machines usually ex-stock with next day delivery plus 12 months no-quibble guarantee.
9x9
Paper Handling
Speed
Max. Paper Width
High
High
Gearing
Matrix
Friction
Tractor
80 CPS
10"
15 '/}"
Res.
Graphics
MX80T
•
•
•
•
MX80F/T-1
•
•
•
•
•
MX80F/T-New Type 2
•
•
•
•
•
•
MX82
•
•
•
•
•
MX82F/T
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
MX100
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Wholesalers and Distributors of quality Japanese Micro Products.
micro Peripheral/ ltd.
61 NEW MARKET SQUARE, BASINGSTOKE, HANTS. Telephone: Basingstoke (0256) 56468
Japanese Office: 101 Abe Bldg. 4F, 2-42 Kanda Jinbocho, Chiyado-ku, Tokyo, Japan.
The largest printer dealer network in the UK - are you an Epson Dealer ?
• Circle No. 361
///////////« mnnnnn
WwdStai' VVordStar
WordStar Worostar
WwylStop WordStar
WordStar WordStar
'■WordStar WordSi
WdStar Word'
'Wlar vvo<-
• • hcnci
System software is the industry
standard CP/M ,so any CP/M programs
operate without modification.
Application software is the answer to most
computing requirements. We have an
extensive catalogue of proven application
software products to provide a solution to
your needs.
Financial and Resource Management ,
Accounting , Data and Word Processing
operations can be carried out using
applications software packages such as
Milestone; Plan 80; Sales, Purchase &
Nominal Ledgers, Order Processing;
WordStar, SpellStar & MailMerge;
DataStar, InfoS tar & SuperSort. All of
these packages plus others operate with
noticeable improvement in system
performance.
EXTRA PERFORMANCE
The combination of up to 24 MBytes
of hard and floppy mini-disk and a second
computer to control disk access provides
fast, efficient processing of data and data
back up. The PBM-1000 gives 20-30 %
more internal memory for user programs.
Memory parity ensures integrity of data
P rograms. The system never locks out.
recessing of user code, keystrokes,
communications and printer output can
be carried out simultaneously. All of these
factors mean that both the operator and
the computer are more productive more of
the time.
INCREASED CAPABILITY
A microcomputer to the user is the
SOFTWARE.
LOW COST
The PBM-1000 microcomputer is
comparable in price to an 8” floppy disk
system but out-performs available 8” or
14” hard disk systems. Low cost and high
performance provide exceptional value.
The PBM-1000 can be purchased as
a standalone unit. Alternatively, it can be
supplied integrated with a Televideo TVI
910/950 VDU, and OKI dot matrix or
daisy wheel printer, and various software
options. It provides a comprehensive
solution to your office automation needs.
We invite you to compare - [
PBM-1000 is a trademark of Performance
Business Machines (A MicroPro Company).
CP/M is a trademark of Digital Research Inc.
WordStar, SpellStar, MailMerge, DataStar,
InfoStar 6c SuperSort arc trademarks
of MicroPro International Corporation.
Milestone is a trademark of Organic Software Inc.
Plan 80 is a trademark of Business Planning
Systems Inc..
Dealer and OEM enquiries invited.
Ill
Tcrodcc Limited
Unit 58, Suttons Park Avenue
Earley, Reading, Berkshire.
RG6 1AZ
Telephone (0734) 664343/6
Telex 849758 TERDECG
We invite you t<
PERFORMANCE ,
CAPABILITY , COST.
• Circle No. 362
• Circle No. 363 ►
INTRODUCING
Perfor
d the microcomputer-
ased small business system
PBM-1000
MAKING MICROCOMPUTERS FOR THE 80s
Live Music
Archive
Librivox
Free Audio
Metropolitan Museum
Cleveland
Museum of Art
Internet
Arcade
Console Living Room
Open Library
American
Libraries
TV News
Understanding
9/11